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Strawberry  Culture 

.:.  CRAWFORD  .:. 


BY 

M.  GRflWFORD 


FRIGE    -    -    TEN  CENTS 


Guuahoga  Falls,  Ohio 

M.  GRflWFORD  GOMPflNY 
1902 


COPYRIGHT,    1902, 
BY    M.    CRAWFORD    COMPANY 


cAll  persons  and  publications  are  hereby 
granted  the  privilege  of  using  portions 
of  this  pamphlet  as  they  may  see  f  it f  pro- 
Abided  full  credit  is  given  to 

STRAWBERRY  CULTURE 

<5y  £M.  Crawford 


PRESS  OF 
DUFFY  BROS.        -       CUYAHOGA   FALLS 


*  '•'»•' 

Contents 


PAGE 

Preliminaries      -     - 

Habits  of  Growth  ^ 

The  Soil    -  *' 

Choice  of  Location  -     -     - 

Influence  of  Trees 

Preparation  of  the  Soil 

Fertilizers 

Time  to  Plant  15 

Sex  in  Strawberries  -  1*> 

Selecting  Varieties        -     -     -     - 

Heeling  In    -     -     -     - 

Methods  of  Culture      -  -    20 

Marking  Out  the  Ground  - 

Planting     -  -    23 

Cultivation  ------------          -     -     -     -       '25 

Cutting  Runners     -     -     -     -  26 

Winter  Protection     -     -     -  -27 

Early  Spring  Treatment  -    29 

Mulching     -     -     -     -     - 

Treatment  of  Old  Beds  -    31 

,  Fall  Planting   -  32 

Potted  Plants      -     -     -     - - 34 


498229 


PAGE 

;:-  :-/_.  v:.  _  . 35 

Raisirfg  Planfs 7r6nf  Cuttings*-*  '-*' 35 

Insect  and  Fungous  Enemies      -- ___  37 

Strawberry  Culture  for  Pleasure 46 

Growing  Exhibition  Berries  -- 47 

Increasing  New  Varieties 52 

Growing  Plants _____  54 

Testing  New  Varieties 55 

Raising  Seedlings 57 

Introducing  New  Varieties  ------ 5g 

Index 


Preliminaries 

Strawberries  grow  wild  in  nearly  all  localities,  on  all  kinds* 
of  soil,  and  without  any  care  at  all.  In  the  wild  state  they  are 
neither  large,  productive  nor  profitable.  Though  the  soil  be  vir- 
gin and  the  locality  the  most  favorable,  the  plant's  energies  are 
fully  taxed  in  the  struggle  with  other  growing  things  for  its 
share  of  the  food  and  moisture  in  the  earth,  and  it  is  able  to 
produce  only  a  few  small  berries.  When  man  enters  the  strug- 
gle, exterminates  the  competitors,  furnishes  more  food  and 
prevents  the  loss  of  the  moisture,  the  result  is  different.  When, 
in  addition  to  this,  he  selects  the  best  varieties  and  from  these 
produces  still  better  ones,  the  difference  becomes  still  more 
marked.  As  the  grower  does  his  work  well  or  otherwise  the 
results  are  satisfactory  or  otherwise. 

Before  engaging  in  an  undertaking  whose  outcome  will  de- 
pend so  largely  upon  himself,  a  person  may  well  take  time  for 
a  little  consideration.  If  he  has  land  of  various  characters  at 
his  disposal,  he  should  weigh  the  merits  of  different  pieces  in 
the  light  of  his  circumstances  and  aims.  What  he  may  consider 
the  best  piece  of  land  on  his  farm,  for  strawberries,  may  have 
been  in  grass  for  several  years.  Would  he  better  take  his  chances 
on  having  his  plants  destroyed  by  the  grubs,  which  are  likely 
to  be  in  such  land,  or  take  another  piece  somewhat  less  favor- 
able ?  Or  perhaps  his  best  strawberry  land  is  wanted  for  some 
other  valuable  crop,  like  onions  or  celery,  that  requires  soil  of 
a  particular  character.  It  may  take  careful  study  to  determine 
which  crop  shall  have  it.  His  land  may  be  better  adapted  to 
growing  late  berries  than  early  ones,  and  still  early  ones  may 
be  the  most  profitable  in  his  market.  It  is  well  to  deter- 


Culture 


mine  also,  as  nearly  as  possible,  bow  much  time  he  can  give  to 
his  strawberries,  so  that  he  may  not  undertake  more  than  he 
can  carry  out  well.  In  short,  one  who  would  become  a  grower 
of  strawberries  ought  to  consider  in  advance  his  land,  his  market, 
his  own  ability,  energy  and  capital,,  and  formulate  his  plans  as 
definitely  as  possible,  always  remembering  that  strawberry  grow- 
ing implies  the  expenditure  of  a  large  amount  of  labor  on  a  small 
piece  of  land  with  correspondingly  large  returns  if  success  comes 
or  heavy  loss  if  through  neglect,  ignorance  or  other  causes, 
failure  results.  It  is  too  important  a  matter  to  plunge  into  heed- 
lessly or  drift  into  absentmindedly. 


Habits  of  Growth 

A  strawberry  plant  makes  its  growth  in  one  season,  develops 
its  blossom  buds  in  the  fall,  remains  dormant  for  a  period  in 
this  climate,  and  produces  its  fruit  the  following  spring  and 
early  summer.  It  grows  whenever  the  temperature  is  much 
above  the  freezing  point.  If  a  warm  time  comes  in  the  winter 
and  continues  for  a  few  days,  the  plant  makes  some  growth; 
and,  if  it  is  heavily  mulched,  this  growth  will  be  white  and 
tender;  and,  if  uncovered  at  that  time  and  freezing  weather 
follows,  this  blanched  growth  will  be  destroyed.  I^et  us  take  a 
young  plant  in  the  early  spring,  plant  it  in  a  good  place,  care 
for  it  and  watch  its  development.  First  we  will  remove  all  the 
leaves  but  one  or  two  of  the  younger  ones,  shorten  the  roots  to 
three  inches,  and  plant  it  firmly  iri  well-prepared  soil  with  the 
crown  level  with  the  surface.  The  ground  should  be  stirred 
around  the  plant  just  as  if  there  was  an  acre  of  them.  In  a  few 
days  new  leaves  will  start  and  growth  will  be  quite  rapid.  A 


Strawberry  Culture  7 

little  later  blossom  buds  will  be  seen  coining  up  from  the  center 
of  the  plant.  We  will  cut  these  off,  because  the  production  of 
flowers  and  fruit  would  be  too  much  of  a  tax  on  a  newly  set 
plant.  We  must  continue  to  stir  the  ground  frequently  so  as  to 
keep  a  loose  surface  to  retain  the  moisture  in  the  soil.  This 
frequent  stirring  incidentally  prevents  the  growth  of  weeds. 
Cutting  off  the  blossoms  relieves  the  plant  of  a  part  of  its  work, 
and  growth  will  be  all  the  more  rapid.  If  it  is  not  allowed  to 
spend  its  strength  in  producing  blossoms  and  fruit,  it  will  be 
the  better  able  to  send  out  runners,  which  it  will  immediately 
do.  This,  too,  is  a  tax  on  its  energies,  and  the  careful  grower 
will  nip  off  the  runner  as  soon  as  it  makes  its  appearance.  This 
prompt  cutting  off  of  blossoms  and  runners,  and  frequent  stirr- 
ing of  the  surface,  especially  if  the  soil  is  rich,  will  give  the 
plant  every  chance  to  grow,  and  where  will  this  growth  take 
place?  Mainly  in  the  crown,  which  corresponds  to  the  bulb  of 
the  lily  or  the  body  of  the  tree.  Of  course,  the  roots  and  leaves 
are  being  increased  in  numbers;  the  former  to  absorb  food,  in 
liquid  form,  from  the  soil,  and  the  latter  to  spread  it  out  over  a 
large  surface  so  as  to  let  the  water  dry  out  of  it — to  boil  it  down. 
The  object  of  all  this  is  to  store  up  substance  in  the  stem  or  body 
of  the  plant  to  enable  it  to  produce  a  crop  of  seed  the  next  sea- 
son. But  seed  is  not  the  only  means  the  plant  has  of  multiply- 
ing its  kind.  It  sends  out  runners  from  the  axils  of  the  leaves  just 
as  a  grape  vine  sends  out  laterals.  The  more  we  do  to  promote 
growth,  the  more  leaves  and  runners  will  be  produced;  and,  if 
we  let  the  plant  have  its  own  way,  it  will  spend  so  much  of  its 
energy  and  vitality  in  the  production  of  runners  that  it  will  be 
nearly  exhausted  at  the  end  of  the  growihg  season,  and  in  very 
poor  shape  to  produce  a  crop  the  next, season,  or  even  to  endure 
the  winter.  As  fruit  is  our  object,  we  will  compel  the  plant  to 


8  Strait' berry  Culture 

store  up  its  resources  in  the  crown  instead  of  wasting  them  in 
the  production  of  runners  that  we  don't  want. 

This  instinct  to  produce  runners  is  a  characteristic  of  all  the 
the  varieties  we  cultivtae,  but  it  seems  to  be  stronger  in  some 
than  in  others.  We  can  by  withholding  nitrogen  diminish  some- 
what the  number  of  runners  a  plant  will  send  out.  So,  this  stirr- 
ing of  the  surface  and  cutting  runners  must  be  kept  up  all  sum- 
mer. If  no  injury  comes  to  roots  or  leaves,  the  plant  will  be  in 
splendid  condition  at  the  end  of  the  growing  season.  During 
the  cold  weather  it  will  remain  dormant;  and,  if  subjected  to 
alternate  freezing  and  thawing,  it  may  receive  great  injury  dur- 
ing the  winter.  Assuming  that  it  comes  through  all  right, 
growth  will  commence  at  the  first  of  spring,  and  a  great  crop 
will  be  produced  in  June.  At  the  end  of  the  bearing  season  the 
plant  is  more  or  less  exhausted;  and,  if  a  good  crop  is  desired 
from  it  the  following  year,  the  grower  must  commence  at  once 
to  give  it  a  chance.  It  must  develop  a  new  root  system,  make 
new  leaves  and  add  another  story  to  its  crown  or  stem. 

We  are  in  the  habit  of  regarding  a  strawberry  plant  as  a  per- 
ennial, and  so  it  is;  but  the  roots,  stem  and  leaves  that  are  active 
one  year  are  dead  a  year  hence,  and  new  ones  have  taken  up 
the  work.  In  early  spring  the  roots  that  were  made  the  fall  be- 
fore are  fresh  and  vigorous,  and  new  rootlets  start  from  them, 
and  perhaps  a  few  new  roots  start  from  the  crown.  This  root 
system  is  active  until  the  end  of  the  bearing  season,  and  then 
the  roots  turn  black,  and  the  plant  is  nearly  at  a  standstill.  The 
leaves  that  rema:ned  on  the  plant  all  winter  are  superseded  by 
others,  and  even  the  latter  seem  to  lose  their  usefulness  about 
the  time  the  roots  are  retiring  from  business.  These  changes 
are  more  noticeable  in  our  hot  and  dry  climate  than  they  are  in 
England. 


Strawberry  Culture  9 

As  soon  as  rain  comes  after  the  bearing  season,  new  roots 
are  sent  out  above  the  old  ones;  and,  for  this  reason,  it  is  well 
to  throw  up  a  little  soil  to  the  crowns,  for  new  roots  will  not 
come  out  above  ground.  If  all  is  favorable  an  abundance  of 
roots  and  leaves  will  be  produced,  and  the  crown  will  be  built 
up  higher,  and  the  part  that  was  so  active  in  the  spring  will  die. 
If  injurious  insects  and  fungous  diseases  could  be  kept  off  and 
half  an  inch  of  soil  added  each  season,  a  plant  might  produce 
an  annual  crop  indefinitely. 

Instead  of  cutting  the  runners  off,  as  we  do  in  hill  culture, 
they  may  be  allowed  to  grow  and  cover  the  ground  with  young 
plants.  This  is  the  way  most  growers  do.  While  the  individual 
plants  are  not  very  large,  there  are  so  many  of  them  that  they 
bear  a  good  crop.  They,  too,  need  attention  after  the  bearing 
season  if  another  crop  is  to  be  taken. 


The  Soil 

The  soil  furnishes  anchorage  for  the  roots  of  the  plant  and 
a  reservoir  for  food  and  moisture.  So  long  as  these  objects  are 
accomplished,  it  makes  almost  no  difference  to  the  plant  whether 
the  soil  be  light  or  heavy,  sand  or  clay.  The  plant  lives  on  the 
food  that  it  finds  in  solution  between  the  particles  of  soil,  and 
not  on  the  soil  itself.  The  reason  why  one  soil  is  better  than 
another  is  that  it  furnishes  the  needed  food  and  moisture  better. 
"  Rich,  sandy  loam  "  is  said  to  be  the  best  soil  for  the  straw- 
berry. The  truth  is  that  that  is  the  ideal  soil  for  almost  any 
crop.  It  holds  fertility  and  moisture  but  is  not  easily  puddled; 
it  becomes  sufficiently  compact  without  getting  hard  or  lumpy; 
and  it  admits  air.  These  qualities  are  essential,  and  they  can 


io  Strawberry  Culture 

usually  be  had  with  less  labor  and  care  in  a  sandy  loam  than  in 
any  other  soil .  Nevertheless,  if  they  be  supplied,  the  strawberry 
will  flourish,  all  other  things  being  equal.  All  along  the  coast, 
from  Long  Island  to  Florida,  where  the  soil  is  sandy,  strawber- 
ries are  grown  to  perfection.  On  the  heavy  soil  at  Pittsburg  a 
single  grower  had  over  200  bushels  picked  in  one  day,  and  most 
of  ihem  ran  twenty  to  the  quart.  The  late  Chas.  Carpenter,  of 
Kelley's  Island,  raised  on  a  small  bed,  at  the  rate  of  a  little 
more  than  600  bushels  to  the  acre,  on  heavy  clay  that  had  not 
bien  plowed  nor  stirred  in  any  way  for  years.  The  runners 
from  a  bearing  bed  took  possession  of  an  old  walk  and  the  next 
year  produced  this  enormous  crop.  It  is  only  fair  to  say  that  in 
figuring  out  this  yield,  the  path  from  which  the  berries  were 
picked  was  included  in  the  area.  Some  of  the  largest  crops 
on  record  have  been  grown  on  muck  and  on  the  prairie  soils  of 
the  west.  It  is  hardly  probable  that  any  crop  we  raise — not  even 
excepting  grass — is  less  particular  about  the  soil  on  [which  it 
grow  s.  And  the  theory  that  certain  varieties  can  only  be  grown 
successfully  on  clay  and  others  on  sand  is  equivalent  to  saying 
that  certain  breeds  of  hogs  must  be  fed  from  a  hard  wood  trough, 
and  others  from  one  of  pine.  The  soil  is  to  the  plant  what  the 
trough  is  to  the  hog — a  reservoir  for  food  and  drink. 


Choice  of  Location 

.The  strawberry  is  a  cold-blooded  plant  and  is  never  at  its 
best  in  a  very  warm  place.  For  this  reason  a  northern  slope  is 
more  favorable,  other  things  being  equal,  than  a  southern  one. 
If  one  wants  early  berries  he  will  choose  a  sunny  location;  and, 
if  it  is  protected  on  the  north  by  higher  ground  or  by  buildings, 


Strawberry  Culture  if 

so  much  the  better.  Land  sloping  to  the  west  where  it  receives 
the  last  rays  of  the  setting  sun  is  less  likely  to  feel  the  effects  o£ 
a  frost  because  it  remains  warm  later  in  the  day  and  thaws  more 
gradually  in  the  morning.  Except  in  the  matter  of  earliness 
and  lateness,  there  is  little  gain  in  one  location  over  another. 
Low,  black  ground  where  cold  air  settles  and  can  not  get  away 
is  apt  to  be  frosty,  and  should  not  be  used  when  one  has  a 
•choice.  I  have,  however,  seen  excellent  crops  grown  on  low, 
mucky  land.  By  planting  late  varieties  on  land  with  a  northern 
•exposure  and  leaving  them  covered  as  late  as  possible  in  the 
spring,  and  pursuing  the  opposite  course  with  early  ones,  the 
season  may  be  considerably  lengthened. 

Other  things  being  equal,  land  that  has  been  in  grass  within 
a  year  or  two  is  to  be  avoided,  on  account  of  the  probable  pres- 
ence of  white  grubs  in  it.  So,  also,  is  land  that  has  been  in 
strawberries  within  a  year  to  be  avoided  if  it  can  be  done  readily, 
as  it  is  liable  to  contain  insect  enemies  or  rust  spores.  If  the 
former  bed  was  known  to  be  infested  with  some  enemy,  it  would 
better  be  planted  for  a  year  in  crops  that  require  constant  work- 
ing. Where  one  has  land  which  has  been  heavily  manured  for 
a  former  crop,  it  is  preferable  for  strawberries  to  similar  land  to 
which  the  manure  is  to  be  applied  shortly  before  the  plants  are 
set.  Strawberry  land  should,  if  possible,  have  good  atmospheric 
drainage,  that  is,  it  should  have  lower  land  near  it  so  that  the 
cold  air  can  run  off  into  the  low  places.  On  this  account  blos- 
soms will  frequently  be  unhurt  on  plantations  near  a  deep  valley, 
while  on  equally  high  land  further  back  from  the  valley,  they 
will  be  killed  by  a  late  frost.  Steep  land  which  is  subject  to 
washing  is,  however,  undesirable,  though  the  atmospheric  drain- 
age be  perfect.  Land  for  strawberries  should  always  have  good 
water  drainage,  either  natural  or  artificial. 


^2  Strawberry  Culture 

The  best  results  cannot  be  secured  where  water  stands  for 
weeks  within  a  foot  of  the  surface,  during  the  growing  season. 
Whether  this  water  is  to  be  removed  by  surface  drainage  or  by 
underdrains  each  grower  will  decide  for  himself.  Few  of  our 
crops  will  endure  more  water  near  their  roots  than  will  the 
strawberry,  but  drainage  to  the  extent  of  removing  standing 
water  from  the  surface  or  near  it  must  be  secured.  During  the 
winter  while  the  plants  are  dormant,  the  bed  may  remain  under 
water  for  two  months  without  injury,  but  if  the  water  stands  so 
near  the  surface  that  the  soil  is  not  only  damp  but  wet,  the 
plants  are  very  likely  to  be  lifted  out  by  the  freezing.  If  there 
is  a  low  place  where  water  stands  on  the  bed  during  the  winter, 
the  plants  under  water  will  be  uninjured,  while  those  near  the 
margin  of  the  pond  will  be  pulled  out.  For  this  reason  the 
ground  must  be  graded  so  that  no  water  will  lie  on  any  part  of 
the  bed. 

Influence  of  Trees 

People  are  not  generally  aware  that  large  trees  in  or  near  a 
strawberry  bed  are  very  injurious  on  account  of  the  water  that 
they  draw  from  the  soil.  It  has  been  proven  that  a  large  tree 
standing  alone  in  a  field  will  draw  from  the  soil  and  evaporate 
into  the  air  from  forty  to  sixty  barrels  of  water  every  bright  day 
in  the  growing  season.  Perhaps  the  elm  is  the  most  injurious, 
as  it  sends  its  roots  so  far.  A  tree  of  this  kind  has  been  known 
to  send  its  roots  400  feet.  As  most  of  these  roots  are  below  the  , 
reach  of  the  plow,  and  as  plants  get  their  supply  of  water  mainly 
from  below,  instead  of  from  above,  we  can  easily  see  why  it  is 
so  expensive  to  have  trees  near  to  a  strawberry  bed.  In  many 
of  our  towns  the  gardens  are  nearly  ruined  by  the  trees  growing 
in  the  streets.  All  such  trees  should  have  their  roots  cut  just 
inside  of  the  front  fence,  compelling  them  to  get  their  living  in 
the  street,  which  they  are  well  able  to  do. 


Strawberry  Culture  ij 

Preparation  of  the  Soil 

Plowing  or  spading  deeper  than  is  required  to  cover  any 
growth  of  weeds  or  grass  that  may  be  on  the  ground  is  usually 
unnecessary  and  often  injurious.  If  done  in  the  fall  there  may 
be  an  advantage  in  rather  deep  plowing  to  enable  the  soil  to 
take  in  all  the  rain  that  falls,  and  in  that  case  it  will  settle  dur- 
ing the  winter.  This  settling  is  very  important.  Deep  plowing 
in  the  spring,  unless  it  is  followed  by  very  thorough  harrowing, 
so  that  nearly  every  foot  of  land  is  tramped,  is  not  best.  The 
best  soil  should  be  left  011  the  top.  Loosening  the  soil  to  a  great 
depth  so  that  the  roots  of  the  strawberry  can  penetrate  it  is  labor 
lost.  No  soil  is  ever  too  firm  for  the  roots  of  the  strawberry, 
or  any  of  our  fruit  bearing  plants,  to  penetrate,  if  it  is  damp. 
Roots  never  work  in  dry  soil.  Care  must  be  taken  to  prevent 
cavities  in  the  soil,  for  if  there  be  one  of  any  size  under  a  plant 
no  blossom  buds  will  be  developed.  Some  years  ago  I  planted 
an  acre  of  strawberries  on  land  that  had  been  used  for  a  pasture 
for  fifteen  years.  It  was  a  tough  blue-grass  sod,  and  in  plow- 
ing there  was  a  hollow  place  left  under  each  furrow.  A  year 
later  when  the  plants  were  in  bloom  I  found  that  all  the  runners 
that  had  rooted  over  a  cavity  failed  to  bloom.  I  set  out  about 
a  quarter  of  an  acre  of  these  barren  plants,  and  grew  them  in 
hills.  The  next  year  the}''  fruited  abundantly. 

The  ideal  preparation  is  first  to  drain  and  grade  the  bed 'in 
the  fall.  Then  cover  the  surface  with  manure  according  to  its 
needs.  Fresh,  strawy  manure  is  as  good  as  any.  Burly  in  the 
spring  rake  off  all  trash  and  make  fine  to  the  depth  of  six  inches, 
and  then  harrow  until  smooth,  when  it  is  ready  for  planting. 
This  may  seem  contrary  to  the  teaching  and  practice  of  some 


1 4-  Strawberry  Culture 

of  the  most  successful  growers.  Mr.  "E.  C.  Davis,  of  Massachu- 
setts, who  grows  berries  as  large  as  big  lemons,  and  has  taken 
more  money  as  prizes  than  any  other  man  I  know  of,  makes 
his  soil  so  fine  that  he  can  thrust  his  arm  into  it  up  the  elbow. 
His  soil  is  deep,  and  by  making  it  fine  it  soon  becomes  compact 
and  wherever  the  roots  extend  they  are  in  close  contact  with 
rich  earth.  The  roots  extend  by  adding  one  cell  to  another, 
and  growth  follows  the  direction  that  furnishes  the  most  food 
with  the  least  resistence.  For  this  reason  if  the  soil  contains 
lumps  or  cracks  they  go  between  the  lumps  and  in  the  cracks, 
and  are  never  in  close  enough  contact  for  the  best  results.  If 
the  soil  is  firm,  the  roots  penetrate  it  in  all  directions  and  ab- 
sorb the  needed  food  and  drink.  A  machinist  can  drill  a  fine  hole 
through  a  block  of  iron  or  steel,  but  never  through  a  keg  of 
nails.  To  get  water  out  of  a  damp  sponge  one  must  squeeze  it. 


Fertilizers 

The  strawberry  is  like  all  other  fruit-bearirg  plants  in  that 
it  reaches  perfection  in  proportion  as  its  waiits  are  supplied. 
Years  ago  it  was  quite  common  to  read  of  immense  crops  that 
had  been  produced  on  very  poor  soil.  It  is  now  conceded  that 
good  soil  is  necessary  for  the  best  results,  or  that  plant  food  be 
supplied.  A  crop  of  strawberries  removes  almost  no  fertility 
from  the  soil;  but  the  plant  is  made  up  of  rich  material,  and  it 
needs  plenty  of  fertility  to  bring  it  up  to  a  bearing  condition. 
It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  stable  manure  contains  all  the 
elements  that  any  soil  needs,  and,  if  enough  of  it  can  be  had, 
it  is  rarely  necessary  to  buy  commercial  fertilizers.  There  are 
cases,  however,  where  the  latter  must  take  the  place  of  stable 


Strawberry  Culture  15 

manure.  In  such  cases  any  good,  complete  fertilizer  will  an- 
swer. One  made  from  potatoes  is  about  right:  I  usually  scatter 
it  along  the  row  between  the  plants — not  on  them — within  a  few 
weeks  after  they  are  planted.  The  amount  to  use  must  be  de- 
termined by  the  grower.  A  ton  to  the  acre  will  do  no  harm, 
but  I  would  not  use  so  much  at  one  time.  If  the  ground  is 
known  to  be  very  poor,  half  a  ton  to  the  acre  might  be  applied, 
and  the  same  amount  in  September.  Half  this  amount  is  usually 
ample,  but  it  is  best  to  use  enough,  for  the  cost  of  the  fertilizer 
is  but  a  small  part  of  the  total  expense,  and  it  may  double  the 
crop.  If -one  has  any  doubt  about  the  fertility  of  the  land,  in 
the  spring  just  before  the  plants  come  into  bloom,  a  few  hun- 
dred pounds  of  a  good  fertilizer  applied  to  an  acre  will  help 
wonderfully.  If  the  intention  is  to  plow  up  the  bed  after  bear- 
ing, 200  pounds  of  nitrate  of  soda  to  the  acre  when  about  half 
the  fruit  has  set  will  add  to  the  crop  and  to  the  luxuriance  of 
the  plants.  It  is  a  great  stimulant,  and  may  cause  the  plants  to 
be  more  subject  to  fungous  diseases.  I  am  satisfied,  from  -long 
experience,  that  a  good  coat  of  manure  applied  in  the  winter  is 
one  of  the  best  methods  to  get  a  good  crop  of  strawberries. 
Lime  should  never  be  used  on  land  for  strawberries,  nor  a  very 
great  amount  of  unleached  wood  ashes.  Forty  bushels  to  the 
acre  is  ample,  on  sandy  soil,  and  clayey  land  needs  still  less. 


Time  to  Plant 

While  the  strawberry  may  be  set  '  'any  day  in  the  year  ex- 
cept Sunday,"  all  seasons  are  not  alike  favorable.  Here  in  the 
north,  perhaps  ninety-five  per  cent,  are  planted  in  the  spring. 
Whatever  advantage  there  may  be  in  delaying  this  work  until 
later  in  the  season,  so  as  to  save  a  certain  amount  of  cultivating 


1 6  Strawberry  Culture 

and  hoeing,  and  to  have  newly  plowed  ground  that  has  not 
been  packed  by  the  spring  rains,  it  is  a  fact  that  plants  may  be 
moved  with  less  injury  when  they  are  dormant,  or  nearly  so, 
than  at  any  other  time.  In  early  spring  plants  are  full  of  stored- 
up  vitality,  and  a  season  of  rest  has  fitted  them  for  vigorous 
growth  as  soon  as  the  temperature  of  the  air  and  soil  will  per- 
mit. As  soon  as  growth  commences  this  stored-up  substance 
is  drawn  upon  to  produce  new  roots,  leaves  and  blossoms,  and 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  take  up  plants  that  have  made  new 
rootlets  without  doing  more  or  less  injury.  Not  only  this,  but 
there  is  a  loss  of  valuable  time.  Whether  the  plants  are  set  out 
to  bear  or  to  grow  plants  from,  they  need  every  day  of  the  grow- 
ing season  to  complete  the  year's  work. 


Sex  in  Strawberries 

Strawberry  blossoms  must  be  pollenized,  or  fertilized,  before 
fruit  can  be  produced.  This  is  accomplished  when  the  pistil 
has  reached  a  receptive  condition  and  pollen  has  been  brought 
to  it,  either  by  the  wind  or  other  means.  The  pollen  is  pro- 
duced by  the  stamens,  in  great  abundance.  It  is  generally  con- 
ceded that  pistillate  varieties  have  no  stamens  and  can  produce 
no  pollen;  but  most  of  the  so-called  pistillate  varieties  do  have  a 
few  stamens  and  are  to  a  certain  extent  self-fertilizing.  Of  course 
if  a  blossom  is  strictly  pistillate  it  has  no  stamens  and  produces 
no  pollen.  Whether  any  variety  is  entirely  without  stamens  is 
a  question,  but  growers  can  not  afford  to  take  any  risk.  The 
safe  way  is  to  assume  that  all  so-called  pistillate  varieties  need 
a  bi-sexual  or  perfect  flowering  sort  near  by.  Bi-sexual  or  per- 
fect-flowering varieties  vary  greatly  in  their  ability  to  produce 


Strawberry  Culture  17 

pollen.  Some  are  strongly  staminate  and  others  nearly  pistillate. 
Not  only  this,  but  some  varieties,  like  the  Gandy,  have  a  few 
of  the  earlier  blossoms  pistillate  and  all  the  others  bi-sexual. 
While  a  perfect  berry  is  evidence  that  fertilization  took  place, 
an  imperfect  berry,  commonly  called  a  "nubbin,"  is  no  proof 
that  the  pollen  was  in  any  way  deficient.  Imperfect  berries 
may  result  from  a  lack  of  pollen,  from  any  circumstance  that 
prevents  the  pollen  from  reaching  the  pistil  while  in  a  receptive 
condition,  or  from  any  injury  to  a  part  of  the  pistils  in  any 
blossom.  It  is  difficult  for  blossoms  to  get  fertilized  in  a  rainy 
time.  The  pollen  is  washed  to  the  ground,  insects  cannot  carry 
it  from  flower  to  flower,  and  the  sticky,  honey-like  substance 
on  the  stigma  may  be  washed  off,  so  that  the  pollen  grains  will 
not  adhere.  If  a  part  of  the  pistils  in  a  blossom  are  destroyed 
by  some  insect,  and  the  rest  pollenized,  a  misshapen  berry  will 
result. 

These  are  only  possible  contingencies.  The  rule  is  that  pol- 
lenization  shall  take  place,  and  exceptions  are  rare.  No  crop 
that  we  raise  is  more  certain — not  even  grass.  Many  growers 
give  themselves  unnecessary  anxiety  in  regard  to  this  matter. 
They  think  that  a  mate  for  a  pistillate  variety  must  come  into 
bloom  the  same  day,  that  it  must  be  within  a  few  feet  of  it,  and 
that  it  must  be  "congenial."  Now  it  is  well  known  that  a  pis- 
tillate blossom  will  remain  in  a  receptive  condition — waiting  to 
be  fertilized — for  some  days.  During  this  time  pollen  may  reach 
maturity  in  stamens  of  a  later  blooming  variety.  No  person  can 
tell  how  far  pollen  may  be  carried  by  the  wind  or  by  insects. 
About  forty  years  ago  I  was  shown  about  half  an  acre  of  pistill- 
ate strawberries  with  not  another  bed  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile. 
I  told  the  owner  that  he  would  have  no  crop,  the  plants  being 


1 8  Strawberry  Culture 

then  in  bloom,  and  every  blossom  pistillate  as  far  as  I  could 
see.  A  month  later  I  was  in  the  same  bed  and  found  one  of  the 
best  crops  I  had  ever  seen.  A  few  wild  berries  in  a  pasture  near 
by  must  have  furnished  the  pollen,  unless  the  plants  in  the  bed 
were  able  to  do  it. 

It  is  not  uncommon  for  a  bed  of  pistillate  plants  to  be  poll- 
enized  by  perfect-flowering  varieties  in  another  garden  nearby. 
I  have  never  yet  seen  a  case  where  a  pistillate  variety  refused 
to  be  fertilized  by  any  bi -sexual  variety  that  was  near  by  and 
bloomed  at  the  same  time. 

Growers  use  more  and  more  bi-sexual  varieties  among  the 
pistillates.  Years  ago  every  seventh  row,  or  even  every  tenth 
row  was  Considered  sufficient.  Now  many  plant  every  third  row 
to  a  perfect-flowering  sort.  It  is  likely  that  if  ev^ry  pollen 
grain  went  where  it  wculd  do  the  most  good,  one  perfect-flow- 
ering blossom  could  fertilize  several  hundred  that  are  pistillate. 

If  some  of  the  first  blossoms  fail  to  get  fertilized  the  loss  is 
not  so  great  as  one  might  think;  the  later  ones  will  have  all  the 
better  chance,  and  may  offset  the  loss  to  a  great  extent. 


Selecting  Varieties 

This  is  a  subject  on  which  it  is  not  necessary  to  say  much. 
In  the  first  place  a  grower  should  have  as  definite  an  idea  as 
possible  what  characteristics  he  desires  in  a  variety.  If  he  is  a 
beginner  his  safest  course  is  to  plant  varieties  that  are  recom- 
mended by  other  growers  in  his  immediate  vicinity,  whose 
methods  of  culture  are  the  nearest  like  those  he  proposes  to 
follow.  Next  to  such  varieties  the  safest  are  the  standard  varie- 
ti  es,  which  have  been  well  tested  and  have  the  reputation  of 


Strawberry  Culture  19 

doing  well  everywhere/  The  leading  characteristics  of  these 
varieties  are  vigor  and  reliability.  If  one  is  seeking  to  grow 
the  finest  fruit  possible,  it  is  frequently  necessary  to  sacrifice 
these  characteristics  to  some  extent  in  favor  of  size,  appearance 
or  quality,  as  few,  if  any,  varieties  combine  all  the  good  points. 
Knowing  just  what  he  wants,  the  grower  can,  by  examining  the 
catalogues  of  plant  growers,  find  such  kinds  as  purport  to  be 
what  he  desires.  He  should  get  a  few  plants  of  these  varieties 
and  test  them  for  himself.  He  will  be  disappointed  often,  but 
there  is  no  other  way  to  get  the  best.  A  person  must  always 
remember  that  nobody  else  can  do  his  testing  for  him,  as  in  no 
two  cases  are  the  conditions  the  same;  and,  with  changed  con- 
ditions, comes  changed  results. 


Heeling  In 

It  sometimes  happens  that  a  person  cannot  plant  just  when 
he  wants  to.  Wet  weather,  other  work,  insufficient  help  or 
other  obstacles  may  prevent,  or  plants  may  arrive  from  a  dis- 
tance before  one  is  ready  for  'them.  In  such  cases  it  is  most 
advantageous  to  know  how  to  ''heel  in"  plants.  Heeling  in  is 
merely  setting  plants  close  together  in  a  temporary  bed. 

My  way  of  doing  it  is  as  follows:  I  choose  a  small  piece  of 
ground,  somewhat  sandy  if  obtainable,  but  well  drained  at  any 
rate.  This  I  spade  and  pulverize  thoroughly,  and  rake  the  sur- 
face smooth.  Beginning  at  one  side,  I  spat  with  the  back  of 
the  spade  a  strip  one  spade  wide  where  the  first  row  is  to  stand. 
I  then  cut  a  trench  with  the  spade  through  the  middle  of  this 
strip  from  end  to  end,  the  bank  being  at  an  angle  of  45  degrees 
with  the  surface.  The  plants  are  then  laid  against  this  sloping 


20  Strawberry  Culture 

bank,  about  an  inch  or  two  apart,  the  crowns  level  with  the 
surface,  and  about  one  inch  of  earth  is  pressed  firmly  against 
the  roots.  The  trench  is  then  filled  up,  spatted  with  the  spade, 
and  another  trench  is  made  about  six  inches  from  the  first  row 
for  the  second  row. 

In  this  way  I  have  often  heeled  plants  in  when  the  ground 
was  frozen  an  inch  or  two  deep.  I  did  this  work  in  the  morn- 
ing before  the  crust  had  thawed,  lifting  the  crust  in  large  pieces 
with  a  pick.  The  ground  underneath  is  found  to  be  in  fine 
condition,  the  water  having  been  drawn  up  into  the  crust.  When 
plants  are  heeled  in  at  such  a  time,  they  should  be  immediately 
covered  with  straw  or  other  litter  to  prevent  their  freezing  and 
thawing. 

Plants  heeled  in  in  the  spring  may  -be  left  till  June,  if  nec- 
essary, and  then  planted,  care  being  taken  to  lift  as  much  of 
the  earth  that  adheres  to  the  roots  as  possible.  Plants  received 
late  in  the  spring,  in  midsummer  or  in  bad  condition  are  much 
better  to  be  heeled  in  and  shaded  and,  if  necessary,  watered  for 
a  couple  of  weeks  before  being  permanently  planted. 


Methods  of  Culture 

Strawberries  are  grown  in  hills,  matted  rows  or  some  com- 
promise between  these  two  methods.  In  hill  culture  the  plants 
are  set  as  close  as  they  are  expected  to  stand,  and  every  runner 
is  cut  off  as  long  as  the  bed  is  kept.  The  common  plan  where 
horse  labor  is  to  be  employed  is  to  have  the  rows  three  feet 
apart,  with  the  plants  one  foot  from  each  other  in  the  row.  This 
requires  14,520  plants  to  an  acre.  For  a  small  bed  for  home 
use,  thirty  inches  between  the  rows  gives  room  enough.  If 


Strawberry  Culture  21 

runners  are  cut  faithfully  as  soon  as  they  appear,  plants  grow 
to  a  large  size,  develope  many  crowns  and  produce  a  large  am- 
ount of  fruit.  The  important  point  is  to  cut  the  runners  before 
they  exhaust  the  parent  plant.  It  is  generally  conceded  that 
the  finest  fruit  is  grown  by  this  method. 

When  grown  in  matted  rows  the  plants  are  set  much  farther 
apart  and  allowed  to  run  all  they  will,  the  crop  being  produced 
on  the  young  plants.  It  is  usual  to  have  the  rows  four  feet 
apart,  and  the  plants  from  one  to  two  feet  from  each  other  in 
the  row.  At  the  end  of  the  season  most  of  the  surface  is  covered 
with  plants.  Some  varieties  are  such  plant  makers  that  they 
should  be  planted  farther  apart,  or  be  thinned  out. 

Mr.  T.  B.  Terry,  the  well-knowu  agricultural  writer  and  lec- 
turer, who  lives  in  this  county,  raises  berries  in  matted  rows,  but 
at  the  last  of  September  he  narrows  up  the  rows  to  about  two 
feet,  and  then  thins  the  plants  to  six  inches  apart.  This  is  a 
very  great  improvement,  and  the  results  are  even  more  than 
one  would  expect. 

There  is  another  grower  in  this  county,  Mr.  D.  Sherbondy, 
who  has  such  remarkable  success  that  his  berries  bring  fully 
twice  the  average  price,  and  the  demand  exceeds  the  supply. 
He  sets  his  plants  thirty  inches  apart  each  way,  and  cultivates 
both  ways  until  July.  Then  each  plant  is  allowed  to  send  out 
four  runners,  two  of  which  are  layered  on  each  side  and  in  the 
row.  In  two  or  three  weeks  these  are  rooted,  and  are  then  cut 
loose  from  the  old  plant.  After  that  no  runners  are  permitted 
to  grow,  and  the  most  thorough  cultivation  is  given.  Another 
grower  in  eastern  Ohio,  whose  method  is  substantially  the  same, 
has  grown  four  hundred  bushels  on  one  acre. 


22  Strawberry  Culture 

I  will  speak  of  one  other  method  that  has  been  very  satisfac- 
tory :  Plants  are  set  out  early  in  the  spring,  in  rows  three  feet 
apart,  and  the  same  distance  from  each  other  in  the  row.  Then 
a  hill  of  early  potatoes  is  planted  between  each  two  plants.  The 
plants  are  not  allowed  to  run  until  July,  and  about  the  same 
time  the  potatoes  are  dug.  Then  runners  are  trained  along  the 
row  until  a  sufficient  number  are  rooted,  and  all  others  are  cut 
off  until  the  end  of  the  season,  or  they  may  cover  the  whole 
surface  if  wide  matted  rows  are  desired.  The  cultivation  given 
to  the  potatoes  is  sufficient  for  the  plants,  and  the  strawberry 
bed  is  provided  for  at  very  little  expense. 

Where  land  is  scarce,  any  early  crop  that  comes  off  about 
the  first  of  July  may  be  grown  among  strawberries. 


Marking  Out  the  Ground 

After  the  groiind  has  been  put  in  perfect  condition  and  made 
smooth  with  the  float,  or  clodcrusher,  it  must  be  marked  out. 
There  are  many  ways  of  doing  this,  but  I  will  describe  only  one, 
which  has  been  very  satisfactory  to  me.  One  straight,  sharp- 
ened pole  is  necessary.  Commence  at  the  corner  of  the  patch 
by  setting  up  the  pole  at  the  end  of  the  first  row.  Then  go  to 
the  other  end  of  the  same  row  and  stand  with  the  right  foot  on 
the  row,  with  the  eyes  looking  at  the  pole.  Then  find  some  ob- 
ject beyond  the  pole — a  tree,  fencepost  or  stump — at  which  you 
can  look,  keeping  the  pole  exactly  between  it  and  your  eye. 
With  these  two  objects  in  line,  walk  towards  the  pole,  making 
a  mark  with  the  sole  of  the  right  foot,  which  is  not  to  be  lifted 
from  the  ground  but  only  pushed  along  on  the  surface.  It  is 
necessary  to  stand  up  straight,  and  keep  the  eyes  on  the  pole. 


Strait) 'berry  Culture  2j 

When  the  first  row  is  completed,  move  the  pole  over  and  walk 
to  the  other  end  to  make  the  second  row.  You  can  make  more 
speed  by  having  two  poles,  and  making  rows  each  way,  one 
with  the  right  foot  and  the  other  with  the  left.  If  you  attempt 
to  make  rows  both  ways  with  the  right  foot,  they  will  not  be  at 
a  uniform  distance  apart. 

If  a  line  be  used  instead  of  a  mark,  it  is  to  be  drawn  tight  six 
inches  from  where  the  row  is  to  be  so  as  not  to  have  it  in  the 
way  of  the  spade  in  planting.  By  setting  the  side  of  the  spade 
near  the  line,  the  plants  can  easily  be  placed  at  a  uniform  dis- 
tance— six  inches — from  it. 


Planting 

The  strawberry  plant,  like  any  other  perrenial,  has  a  certain 
amount  of  vitality  stored  up  at  the  end  of  the  growing  season; 
and,  if  necessary,  it  can  draw  upon  its  supply  when  growth  starts 
in  the  spring.  In  this  respect  it  is  like  a  bulb  or  a  tuber,  and 
will  bear  a  great  amount  of  neglect  or  abuse,  and  still  grow.  As 
the  season  advances  this  stock  of  vitality  is  diminished,  and 
more  care  is  required  in  transplanting.  I  have  taken  up  plants 
late  in  the  fall  and  wrapped  them  in  damp  moss  and  left  them 
laying  on  the  ground  where  they  were  frozen  and  thawed  several 
times  during  the  winter.  In  the  spring  they  were  planted,  and 
they  fruited  in  June.  I  have  even  taken  up  plants  while  dor- 
mant and  cut  back  their  roots  to  half  an  inch,  and  they  grew 
and  fruited.  If  plants  receive  no  injury  while  out  of  the  ground 
and  are  transplanted  with  reasonable  care,  they  are  ju^t  as  likely 
to  grow  as  are  potatoes  or  onions.  A  plant  may  fail  from  being 
dried  while  out  of  the  ground,  from  being  kept  too  long  in  wet 


2 4.  Strawberry  Culture 

moss  in  a  temperature  high  enough  to  cause  growth,  from  being 
planted  too  deep,  or  from  not  having  the  soil  pressed  firmly 
against  the  roots. 

While  a  strawberry  plant  holds  on  to  its  roots  and  leaves 
through  the  winter,  they  are  not  so  essential  in  planting,  in  early 
spring,  as  many  suppose.  If  all  the  leaves  and  nearly  all  the 
roots  be  removed  it  appears  to  make  no  difference.  If  the  plant 
is  to  be  dried  while  out  of  the  ground,  the  fewer  leaves  there  are 
to  pump  the  moisture  out  of  the  crown  the  better.  In  planting 
in  early  spring  it  is  an  advantage  to  shorten  the  roots.  They 
spread  out  better,  and  new  roots  are  more  likely  to  come  out  of 
the  crown  above  the  old  ones.  Here  is  our  method  which  is  the 
best  we  know  of:  The  plants  are  taken  up  with  spading  forks, 
put  into  wet  sacks  and  carried  to  the  cellar,  where  all  dead  leaves 
and  runners  are  removed.  The  roots  are  shortened  to  three 
inches  and  the  plants  are  put  into  shallow  boxes  and  covered 
with  wet  sacks.  They  are  then  carried  to  the  field  and  perhaps 
two  hundred  taken  out  at  a  time  and  put  right  end  up,  in  a  pail 
containing  a  few  inches  of  water.  Two  men,  or  a  man  and  boy, 
work  together,  one  carrying  the  pail  and  the  other  a  bright, 
sharp  spade.  The  ground  being  marked  out,  the  spade  is  set 
squarely  across  the  mark  and  thrust  down  at  an  angle  of  forty- 
five  degrees  and  then  pushed  forward  until  there  is  sufficient 
room  at  the  back  of  it  for  the  boy  to  place  the  plant  in  position, 
where  it  is  held  until  the  spade  is  withdrawn  and  the  earth  falls 
back  on  the  roots.  Bach  plant  is  taken  out  of  the  water  as  it  is 
planted,  and  the  soil  adheres  to  the  wet  roots.  As  the  man  with 
the  spade  steps  forward  to  make  another  hole,  he  sets  his  foot 
over  the  roots  of  the  last  plant,  pressing  the  earth  firmly  against 
them.  A  man  and  boy  can  plant  five  thousand  in  a  day.  When 


Strawberry  Culture  25 

I  buy  plants  at  a  high  price — from  two  to  ten  dollars  a  dozen — 
I  set  them  out  with  more  care.  They  are  put  in  water  and  the 
place  for  each  one  is  made  very  fine  with  the  spade,  after  which 
the  plant  is  set  by  hand  with  great  care.  The  crown  must  be  on 
a  level  with  the  surface,  and  damp  soil  in  close  contact  with 
every  root. 

Just  here  I  want  to  speak  of  another  point  of  importance- 
I  discovered  about  thirty  years  ago  that  a  plant  sends  out  runners 
only  from  one  side — the  side  farthest  away  from  the  old  plant 
that  produced  it.  A  knowledge  of  this  fact  may  be  turned  to 
good  account  in  planting,  for  there  is  an  advantage  in  having  all 
the  plants  in  a  row  run  in  the  same  direction.  It  is  an  advant- 
age to  cultivate  in  the  direction  the  plants  are  running,  so  as 
not  to  throw  the  young  runners  out  of  place.  Moreover,  the 
row  is  more  uniform.  When  two  plants  in  a  row  run  towards 
each  other,  the  young  plants  are  too  thick*.  If  they  run  from 
each  other,  there  is  a  vacancy.  Bach  plant  sends  out  its  runners 
from  the  side  opposite  to  the  runner  that  produced  it.  Bven  if 
the  old  runner  is  cut  or  broken  off,  one  can  easily  tell  where  it 
was  attached  to  the  plant,  and  no  runners  will  come  out  on  that 
side.  

Cultivation 

The  main  object  of  cultivation  is  to  prevent  the  escape  6f 
moisture  from  the  soil.  Incidentally  it  prevents  the  growth  of 
weeds.  It  has  been  ascertained  by  careful  experiments  that 
twenty-five  tons  of  water  are  evaporated  from  an  acre  of  bare, 
uncultivated  land  every  bright  day  during  the  growing  season. 
This  is  a  tremendous  waste,  and  most  of  it  can  be  prevented  by 
frequently  stirring  the  surface  to  the  depth  of  two  or  three  inches. 


26  Strawberry  Culture 

This  stirring  produces  two  or  three  inches  of  fine  soil,  through 
which  moisture  from  below  cannot  pass.  As  soon  as  rain  falls 
this  loose  surface  becomes  packed,  and  in  the  right  condition  to 
absorb  moisture  from  below  and  conduct  it  to  the  surface  where 
it  is  carried  off  by  evaporation.  For  this  reason  the  surface  must 
be  stirred  as  soon  as  possible  after  .every  rain.  Bven  if  no  rain 
conies,  the  water  from  the  firm  soil  underneath  will  moisten  this 
loose  soil  and  soon  put  it  in  a  condition  to  conduct  the  water  to 
the  surface  where  it  is  carried  off  in  vapor.  When  there  is  too 
much  water  in  the  soil  it  is  sometimes  best  to  let  some  of  it  es- 
cape from  the  surface  by  leaving  the  ground  firm. 

It  is  well  known  that  all  our  crops  would  be  much  more  abun- 
dant if  there  was  plenty  of  water  in  the  soil  at  all  times.  In  view 
of  this  fact  how  inexcusable  it  is  to  permit  the  loss  of  twenty-five 
tons  in  a  day.  This  is  equal  to  a  rain  fall  of  one-fourth  of  an 
inch — nearly  two  hundred  barrels.  This  amount  of  water  cannot 
be  obtained  in  any  other  way  at  so  little  cost  as  to  stir  an  acre 
with  the  cultivator. 

Cutting  Runners 

First  growth,  then  productiveness,  is  the  rule  with  all  fruit 
bearing  plants,  and  the  strawberry  is  no  exception.  It  produces 
its  fruit  on  plants  that  made  their  growth  the  year  before.  If  the 
conditions  for  vigorous  growth  were  supplied  the  plant  will  con- 
tinue to  grow  and  make  runners  rather  than  develop  fruit  buds. 
If  the  grower  wants  fruit  instead  of  plants,  he  endeavors  to  pre- 
vent superfluous  growth  by  cutting  off  the  runners,  just  as  the 
grape  grower  cuts  off  the  laterals  to  cause  the  vine  to  develop 
fruit  buds.  Now  it  makes  no  difference  how  this  work  is  done 
if  it  only  be  attended  to  promptly,  before  the  runner  has  in  any 


Strawberry  Culture  27 

way  weakened  the  plant.  The  runner  is  produced  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  plant  until  it  becomes  rooted  and  is  self-supporting. 
Various  contrivances  have  been  invented  to  do  this  work  with 
little  labor,  but  most  of  them  are  faulty  in  one  or  more  ways: 
they  fail  to  cut  the  runners  early  enough,  or  they  cut  some  of 
the  leaves.  A  boy  with  a  sharp  knife  can  do  the  work  well. 


Winter  Protection 

Strawberry  plants  are  liable  to  be  injured  in  the  winter  by 
alternate  freezing  and  thawing.  This  renders  a  covering  of  some 
kind  necessary  in  many  cases.  If  the  soil  be  of  such  a  character 
as  to  hold  water,  the  danger  is  increased.  The  injury  comes  in 
this  way:  The  water  in  the  soil  in  being  changed  into  ice  ex- 
pands about  one-tenth,  requiring  that  much  more  room.  This 
expansion  is  mainly  upwards,  and  the  frozen  surface  carries  up 
whatever  may  be  in  its  grasp — fenceposts,  stones,  garden  stakes 
and  plants.  When  the  soil  thaws  it  settles  back  in  its  place, 
but  the  plants  do  not.  The  next  freezing  repeats  the  process, 
raising  the  plant  a  little  higher.  This  is  liable  to  occur  at  any 
time  between  October  and  April,  and  it  is  just  as  injurious  in 
November  as  in  March.  We  have  in  this  case  the  soil  furnish- 
ing anchorage  to  hold  the  plant  in  its  place,  and  the  freezing  to 
pull  it  up  by  the  roots.  We  have  all  seen  strawberry  plants, 
clover  and  even  fence  posts  lifted  six  or  eight  inches  in  a  single 
winter.  If  the  soil  is  dry,  or  nearly  so,  there  is  no  expansion — 
no  raising  up  of  the  surface.  A  firm  soil  that  holds  but  little 
water,  and  a  sloping  soil  that  furnishes  good  surface  drainage 
expand  comparatively  little.  The  same  may  be  said  of  any 
soil  through  which  water  percolates  rapidly,  if  it  is  well  under- 


28  Strawberry  Culture 

drained.  lyevel,  clayey  land  that  was  plowed  to  a  good  depth, 
must  be  well  mulched  in  order  to  prevent  ' '  heaving. ' '  A  mulch 
acts  in  this  way:  It  prevents  the  surface  from  freezing  until  the 
water  has  had  some  time  to  get  down,  and  it  prevents  the  sun 
from  thawing  the  ground  on  bright  days.  So  long  as  the  ground 
remains  frozen  no  damage  is  done,  as  a  rule.  If,  however,  the 
frost  penetrates  the  soil  as  far  as  the  roots  extend,  and  the  surface 
is  free  from  snow  or  mulch,  the  plants  will  soon  have  the  sap 
dried  out  of  them.  We  sometimes  forget  that  every  tree  and 
plant  that  has  any  live  parts  above  ground  is  giving  off  moist- 
ure in  winter  even  on  a  freezing  day.  Were  it  not  so,  clothes 
would  never  dry  in  a  freezing  atmosphere.  I  have  seen  straw- 
berry beds  on  gravelly  or  sandy  knolls,  where  the  snow  was 
blown  off,  nearly  killed  although  not  a  plant  was  lifted  out.  If 
plants  stand  so  thick  as  to  shade  the  entire  surface  they  act  as 
a  mulch  and  protect  each  other.  If  they  are  so  far  apart  that  a 
considerable  bare  ground  appears  between  them,  the  danger 
from  alternate  freezing  and  thawing  is  increased.  When  to  put 
on  the  winter  covering  is  important.  We  are  often  advised  to 
wait  until  the  ground  freezes  hard  enough  to  hold  up  a  loaded 
wagon;  but  there  is  danger  that  repeated  freezing  of  the  surface 
may  do  injury  before  the  frozen  ground  will  bear  a  heavily 
laden  wagon.  The  ideal  method  is  to  cover  the  ground  at  the 
first  freezing  weather,  leaving  the  foliage  exposed.  Then  at  the 
end  of  the  growing  season,  cover  the  foliage  out  of  sight.  It  is 
not  a  good  plan  to  cover  the  foliage  before  the  end  of  the  grow- 
ing season.  There  is  no  danger  in  putting  on  too  much  cover- 
ing if  it  is  removed  early  enough  in  the  spring — before  the  plants 
begin  to  grow.  If  the  covering  is  of  such  a  character  that  the 
plants  can  grow  through  it  in  the  spring,  and  that  is  the  iuten- 


Strawberry  Culture  29 

tion,  not  more  than  three  inches  should  be  applied.  Mr.  Joseph 
Hay  wood,  one  of  the  most  successful  growers  in  Pennsylvania, 
covers  his  beds  with  three  inches  of  stable  manure,  and  lets  the 
plants  grow  through  it.  Straw  is  the  most  common  covering, 
but  any  kind  of  litter  will  answer.  Snow  is  perhaps  the  best  of 
all  if  we  were  sure  of  having  it. 


Early  Spring  Treatment 

If  the  winter  covering  is  of  such  a  character  that  it  cannot 
easily  be  removed,  it  is  common  to  let  the  plants  grow  up 
through  it,  and  then  pull  up  whatever  weeds  may  come.  It  is 
more  satisfactory  to  remove  the  covering  from  the  bed  and  keep 
the  surface  stirred  until  it  is  time  to  mulch,  for  the  purpose  of 
keeping  the  fruit  clean.  Stirring  the  surface  encourages  a  more 
rapid  growth  and  will  result  in  fine  fruit.  Moisture  will  be  re- 
tained and  the  bed  will  be  in  good  condition  for  the  fruit  to 
reach  maturity.  If  a  late  frost  comes  the  warmth  will  rise  from 
the  bare  ground  and  help  to  keep  it  off.  The  mulch  may  be 
returned  just  before  the  fruit  commences  to  ripen.  Years  ago 
I  was  careful  not  to  stir  the  ground  in  the  spring  lest  the  roots 
might  be  injured,  but  I  have  had  reason  to  change  my  mind  on 
that  point. 

One  of  the  most  skillful  growers  in  the  country  digs  up  all 
his  plants  about  the  first  of  November,  and  heels  them  in  quite 
close  together  in  frames  where  they  are  well  covered.  Early  in 
the  spring  they  are  planted  in  rows  twenty  inches  apart,  and 
not  over  six  inches  from  each  other  in  the  row.  He  can  do  this 
easier  than  to  clean  out  the  beds  of  chickweed  in  the  fall,  and 
the  yield  is  good. 


jo  Strawberry  Culture 

Mulching 

However  widely  growers  may  differ  in  regard  to  the  manage- 
ment of  bearing  beds  in  the  spring,  it  is  generally  conceded 
that  a  mulch  is  a  necessity  during  the  fruiting  season.  It  pre- 
vents the  escape  of  moisture  at  the  time  it  is  most  needed;  it 
keeps  the  fruit  clean ;  it  helps  to  prevent  the  growth  of  weeds;  and 
it  keeps  the  ground  cool.  It  is  to  the  bearing  bed  about  what 
cultivation  is  to  the  new  bed  that  is  being  grown  for  the  next 
season.  What  is  best  to  use  for  this  mulch  must  be  decided  by 
each  grower  for  himself.  StravV  is  the  most  common  material, 
and  is  generally  obtainable.  I  have  seen  cornstalks,  swamp  hay, 
tanbark,  lawn  clippings  and  other  things  used.  Sometimes  the 
winter  covering  is  left  on  the  bed  to  serve  as  a  mulch.  Shall 
the  mulch  be  applied  early  or  late  ?  If  put  on  too  early,  it 
keeps  the  ground  cool,  retards  growth,  makes  the  crop  late  in 
ripening,  and  causes  a  late  frost  to  be  much  more  injurious  than 
it  would  otherwise  be.  The  mulch  prevents  the  warming  of  the 
soil,  and  when  a  frost  comes  there  is  no  warmth  coming  up  from 
below  to  keep  it  off.  Removing  the  winter  covering  early  and 
leaving  the  surface  unbroken  hastens  the  warming  of  the  soil 
and  promotes  growth.  When  the  first  berries  are  half  grown, 
the  weeds  may  be  shaved  off  and  the  mulch  put  on.  Leaving 
the  surface  unbroken  during  April  allows  an  immense  waste  of 
moisture,  but  this  may  be  offset  by  the  earliness  of  the  crop. 


Treatment  of  Old  Beds 

The  strawberry  is  a  perennial  and  under  favorable  conditions 
it  will  bear  year  after  year.  Some  varieties  bear  more  the  sec- 
ond year  than  they  do  the  first.  And  yet  it  has  become  quite 


Strawberry  Culture  31 

common  to  take  but  a  single  crop  and  then  plow  the  bed.  This 
method  has  its  advantages.  It  prevents  the  spread  of  insect 
enemies,  fungous  diseases  and  weeds.  It  also  gives  an  oppor- 
tunity to  grow  a  crop  after  strawberries.  Sweet  corn,  late  cab- 
bages cucumbers  for  pickles,  turnips,  late  potatoes,  fodder  corn, 
millet,  cow  peas  and  soy  beans  are  some  of  the  crops  that  may 
be  grown  after  strawberries. 

The  best  way  to  treat  an  old  bed  depends  somewhat  on  the 
method  adopted  before  fruiting.  If  grown  in  wide,  matted  rows 
there  is  no  better  way  than  to  mow  the  bed  as  soon  as  possible 
after  the  last  picking.  In  a  day  or  two  the  leaves  and  mulch 
are  stirred  up,  and  as  soon  as  the  wind  is  favorable  the  whole 
bed  is  burned  over.  This  destroys  insects  and  their  eggs,  fun- 
gous diseases  and  weed  seeds,  if  there  are  any,  and  in  a  few  days 
new  growth  starts,  and  not  a  spot  of  rust  will  appear  all  the  rest 
of  the  season.  It  will  need  the  same  cultivation  that  it  did  the 
year  before.  This  is  substantially  the  way  to  care  for  any  old 
bed.  When  beds  have  been  given  hill  culture  and  a  heavy 
mulch  applied,  it  is  just  possible  that  the  crown  of  the  plants 
may  be  injured  by  burning.  If  there  is  wind  enough  to  do  the 
work  quickly,  there  is  no  danger;  but,  to  make  it  perfectly  safe, 
the  material  to  be  burned  can  be  raked  into  the  spaces  between 
the  rows,  or  a  little  earth  may  be  put  over  the  crown  of  each 
plant.  When  a  bed  has  been  burned  over,  comparatively  few 
runners  are  sent  out  during  the  remainder  of  the  season,  and 
the  foliage  is  so  perfectly  healthy  that  it  is  a  pleasure  to  work 
among  the  plants. 


32  Strawberry  Culture 

Fall  Planting 

The  finest  berries  that  it  is  possible  to  produced  may  be 
grown  on  plants  set  in  the  summer  and  fall.  This  has  been 
demonstrated  thousands  of  times,  and  is  generally  conceded. 
Most  of  the  fine  exhibition  berries  that  capture  the  prizes  are 
grown  on  fall-set  plants.  Plants  set  in  July  and  August  are  us- 
ually classed  as  fall-set.  The  plan  of  planting  at  that  season 
has  its  advantages  and  disadvantages.  If  spring  work  was  so 
pressing  that  planting  strawberries  had  to  be  put  off,  or  if  the 
matter  was  neglected  for  any  reason,  it  can  still  be  attend  to. 
Coming  soon  after  strawberry  season,  one  has  more  interest  in 
the  subject.  In  summer  and  fall  there  are  vacant  places  where 
early  crops  were  grown,  and  the  time  between  planting  and  se- 
curing the  crop  is  so  short  that  there  are  no  objections  to  sparing 
the  land.  Plants  set  at  that  time  are  usually  free  from  the 
attacks  of  insect  enemies,  and  the  crop  comes  off  in  ample  time  to 
admit  of  replanting  for  the  next  year's  crop.  The  objections  to 
fall  planting  are  that  plants  are  not  easily  obtained,  are  higher 
in  price,  the  weather  is  more  liable  to  be  unfavorable,  more  care 
and  skill  are  required,  and  fall  set  plants  are  more  likely  to  be 
injured  in  the  winter  if  left  unprotected. 

Unless  it  is  necessary  to  plow  the  land  for  the  purpose  of 
burying  rubbish,  weeds  or  manure,  a  thorough  stirring  with  the 
cultivator  to  prevent  a  growth  of  weeds  and  retain  moisture,  is 
all  that  is  necessary.  This  should  be  done  as  long  before  plant- 
ing as  possible,  and  it  should  be  repeated  after  every  rain.  If 
the  ground  has  to  be  plowed,  let  it  be  done  early,  and  the  most 
thorough  harrowing  should  be  given,  so  as  to  firm  the  soil. 

If  a  liberal  dressing  of  well-rotted  stable  manure  can  be  ap- 
plied it  will  be  a  great  advantage.  It  should  be  stirred  in  before 


Strawberry  Culture  jj 

planting  to  save  the  labor  of  applying  it  after.  If  manure  can 
not  be  spared,  ten  pounds  of  a  complete  fertilizer  may  be  put 
on  to  each  square  rod  in  two  weeks  after  planting.  It  should 
be  scattered  along  the  row,  but  not  on  the  foliage.  This  seems 
like  an  excessive  application,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that 
plants  cannot  send  their  roots  a  very  long  distance  in  search  of 
plant  food  in  the  short  time  they  have  to  work. 

If  the  bed  is  to  stand  more  than  one  year  the  plants  may  be 
set  in  double  rows  fifteen  inches  apart,  and  the  same  distance 
between  the  plants  in  the  row.  A  thirty-inch  space  should  be 
left  between  each  two  double  rows.  If  only  one  crop  is  to  be 
taken,  the  rows  may  be  twelve  inches  apart,  and  the  plants  ten 
inches  in  the  rows,  with  a  twenty-four  inch  space. 

Whether  to  use  potted  plants  or  layers  will  depend  on  cir- 
cumstances. The  former  are  more  costly,  but  they  are  safer  in 
the  hands  of  unskilled  persons.  If  the  .soil  is  dry  and  no  signs 
of  rain,  I  have  found  it  a  good  plan  to  make  a  hole  with  a  pointed 
stick  where  each  plant  is  to  stand,  and  fill  these  holes  with 
water  the  evening  before  the  planting  is  to  be  done.  The  soil 
must  be  pressed  firmly  against  the  roots,  and  even  some  shade  may 
be  necessary.  It  is  an  advantage  to  set  the  plants  so  that  all  the 
runners  will  run  across  the  wide  spaces,  to  facilitate  cutting 
them  off.  Frequent  stirring  of  the  soil  and  cutting  off  the  run- 
ners will  be  necessary  until  the  end  of  the  season.  The  stirring 
should  not  be  deep  enough  to  cut  the  roots,  which  come  near 
to  the  surface  during  the  damp,  fall  weather.  If  a  quantity  of 
manure,  no  matter  how  fresh  and  strawy,  could  be  scattered 
over  the  surface  between  the  plants,  but  not  on  them,  it  will 
protect  the  roots  from  the  first  hard  frosts.  If  this  manure  or 
litter  is  moved  up  towards  the  plants,  the  regular  winter  cover- 
ing may  be  postponed  until  the  ground  freezes;  but  it  is  better 
to  cover  in  November. 


34  Strawberry  Culture 

Potted  Plants 

Potted  strawberry  plants  have  been  in  use  about  forty  years, 
and  are  in  great  favor  with  most  amateur  growers.  They  are 
produced  during  the  summer  months  by  allowing  runners  to  root 
in  small  pots  sunk  in  the  soil  near  to  the  plants  from  which 
runners  are  to  be  taken.  If  the  weather  is  favorable  the  little 
pots  will  be  well  filled  with  roots  in  two  weeks,  when  they  are 
to  be  placed  close  together  in  frames  where  they  can  be  watered 
when  necessary.  After  remaining  in  the  frame  a  few  days  they 
are  in  good  condition  to  be  planted  where  they  are  to  fruit.  In 
planting  them  they  are  to  be  knocked  out  of  the  pots  and  pressed 
firmly  in  the  ground,  the  crowns  level  with  the  surface.  It  is 
best  to  have  the  earth  in  the  pot  and  that  in  the  bed  of  about 
the  same  degree  of  dampness.  Potted  plants  are  set  with  almost 
no  risk,  even  by  inexperienced  persons,  and  they  should  scarcely 
cease  growing.  The  earlier  they  are  planted,  all  other  things 
being  equal,  the  more  they  will  bear  the  following  season. 

Another  excellent  method  of  producing  potted  plants  is  to 
take  young  runners  with  roots  from  one  to  three  inches  in  length 
pot  them  in  two-inch  pots  and  sink  them  in  a  frame  where  they 
may  be  shaded  and  watered  for  two  or  three  weeks.  For  home 
use  equally  good  results  may  be  obtained  by  cutting  thick,  tough 
sod  into  three  inch  squares,  and  sinking  them,  grass  side  down, 
and  allowing  a  runner  to  root  in  the  center  of  each  piece.  Soiled 
berry  baskets  may  be  filled  with  rich  soil  and  used  in  the  same 
way.  While  potted  plants  are  very  satisfactory  to  use,  it  must 
be  remembered  that  they  are  more  costly  than  common  layers. 
It  is  some  trouble  to  pot  them,  to  care  for  them  until  sold  and  to 
pack  them  for  transportation.  The  express  charges  too,  are 
somewhat  higher.  If  left  in  the  pots  a  long  time  they  become 
pot-bound  and  are  not  so  good.  They  are  mostly  used  in  July, 
August  and  September. 


Strawberry  Culture  35 

Transplanted  Layers 

For  summer  and  fall  planting,  I  have  found  transplanted 
layers  to  be  almost  equal  to  potted  plants.  A  grower  near  Cleve- 
land induced  me  to  adopt  this  plan  nearly  forty  years  ago.  Since 
that  time  several  other  growers  have  "discovered "  the  method, 
which  is  as  follows :  A  bed  or  frame  of  nice,  loamy  soil  that 
will  not  bake  is  made  fine  and  level.  Into  this  are  transplanted 
layers  that  have  recently  commenced  to  root.  The  plants  should 
be  three  or  four  inches  apart,  and  the  roots  spread  out  in  fan 
shape,  and  covered  with  but  little  soil,  and  not  pressed  very 
firmly.  They  must  be  well  watered  at  the  time  of  transplanting 
and  then  shaded.  They  will  need  some  water  and  shade  for  a 
few  days  or  a  week,  when  they  will  have  thousands  of  new,  white 
roots.  The  bed  is  then  to  be  watered  thoroughly  when  the 
plants  are  to  be  taken  up,  with  the  soil  adhering,  and  trans- 
planted where  they  are  to*  fruit. 

If  the  ground  is  dry,  make  a  hole  large  enough  to  hold  a  pint 
where  each  plant  is  to  stand,  and  fill  it  with  water  in  the  even- 
ing, and  do  the  planting  the  next  morning.  If  some  shade  is 
necessary,  cover  each  plant  with  a  handful  of  lawn  clippings, 
and  leave  them  there  until  they  dry  up.  By  that  time  the  plants 
will  need  no  shading.  

Raising  Plants  from  Cuttings 

It  is  sometimes  very  convenient  to  raise  plants  from  cuttings, 
and  it  is  easily  done.  Cutting  plants  bear  transplanting  remark- 
ably well,  having  been  thrown  on  their  own  resources  when 
roots  first  appeared.  My  method  of  growing  them  is  as  follows: 
It  is  best  to  have  a  frame  for  this  work,  and  it  is  made  in  the 
simplest  manner,  out  of  six  inch  fence  boards.  Commonly  it  is 


3  6  S  taw  berry  Culture 

four  by  sixteen  feet  and  is  covered  with  cotton  cloth.  The  soil  in- 
side is  made  fine  and  level,  and  that  on  the  outside  is  slightly 
banked  up  against  it  to  hold  it  in  place,  or  else  the  frame  is  sunk 
an  inch  or  two.  The  runners  are  cut  in  the  morning  when  the 
dew  is  on,  but  this  may  be  done  at  any  time  by  putting  them  in 
a  wet  sack.  They  are  then  carried  to  a  sheltered  place,  made 
into  cuttings  and  dropped  into  a  pail  of  water.  They  are  of  the 
right  age  when  roots  are  beginning  to  come  out.  About  an  inch 
of  the  runner  is  left  to  each  node,  and  it  is  often  necessary  to  re- 
move a  part  of  the  foliage  lest  the  little  cutting  dry  out  before 
roots  are  formed  to  support  it.  The  earth  is  supposed  to  be  of 
such  a  character  that  it  will  not  bake,  but  I  have  grown  them  in 
heavy  soil,  mostly  clay,  by  covering  it  to  the  depth  of  half  an 
inch  with  sand.  It  is  well  watered  and  then  the  cuttings  are 
placed  in  position  with  the  runner  stuck  into  the  soil  until  the 
node,  where  the  roots  are  coming  out,  is  resting  firmly  on  the 
surface  and  slightly  below  the  level.  Perhaps  three  by  three 
inches  is  as  good  a  distance  as  any.  If  the  work  is  done  when 
the  sun  is  shining,  the  cuttings  must  be  shaded  at  once  and  left 
covered  until  sundown.  If  done  after  sundown  they  may  re- 
main uncovered  until  most  of  the  dew  is  dried  off  next  morning. 
They  will  need  shading  most  of  the  time  the  sun  is  shining  for 
a  few  days  until  they  get  roots.  Each  morning  they  remain  un- 
covered a  little  later,  and  the  shading  is  removed  earlier.  In 
cloudy  and  rainy  weather  they  need  no  shading,  but  it  may  be 
necessary  to  leave  them  covered  in  a  windy  time,  night  or  day. 
In  a  dry  time  the  frame  may  need  watering  night  and  morning 
for  the  first  few  days.  Later,  one  watering  in  the  morning  is 
sufficient.  If  carefully  attended  to,  the  plants  will  be  rooted  in 
ten  to  fourteen  days.  They  may  then  be  planted  where  they 
are  to  fruit,  or  they  may  be  potted  for  sale,  or  planted  in  beds  to- 
be  sold  as  layers  later  on.  The  cuttings  should  be  planted  im- 
mediately after  they  are  cut,  if  possible.  If  left  in  water  a  few 
hours  before  planting,  they  are  likely  to  die. 


Strawberry  Culture  37 

Insect  and  Fungous  Enemies 

As  I  do  not  pretend  to  be  a  scientist  I  have  been  obliged  to 
^borrow  the  most  of  what  follows, — mainly  from  reports  of  experi- 
ment stations.  These  descriptions  will  assist  growers  somewhat 
in  identifying  enemies,  but  I  would  strongly  urge  all  who  find 
pests  with  which  they  are  not  familiar,  to  send  specimens  of 
them  and  the  aifected  plants  to  the  experiment  station  of  their 
own  state,  where  they  can  get  reliable  information  and  com- 
petent advice. 

INSECT  ENEMIES 

WHITE  GRUB  (Lachnosterna  fusca) . — This,  the  most  serious 
insect  enemy  of  the  strawberry,  is  described  by  Miss  Murtfeldt, 
of  Missouri,  as  follows:  "Its  length  is  about  one  and  a  half 
inches  and  its  thickness  that  of  the  tip  of  one's  little  finger.  The 
head  and  collar  are  horny  and  brown  and  there  are  six  long 
sprawling  legs  on  the  thoracic  joints.  Its  most  distinguishing 
feature  is  the  enlarged,  smooth,  bulbous  hinder  end,  through 
which  the  soil  which  it  swallows  with  its  food  shows  darkly. 
This  is  its  appearance  when  nearly  ready  to  transform  after,  it 
is  supposed,  three  years  of  larval  growth  and  when  it  is  the  most 
destructive." 

The  worst  feature  of  this  pest  is  that  one  never  knows  where 
it  is  until  it  has  destroyed  plants.  It  is  generally  supposed  that 
it  is  most  prevalent  in  land  that  for  several  years  has  been  in 
grass,  but  this  is  not  always  the  case.  I  believe  that  it  is  more 
likely  to  be  found  011  knolls  and  hills  than  in  low  ground,  and 
near  trees  than  in  the  open. 

The  parent  of  the  grub  is  the  common  May  beetle  or  ' '  June 
bug,"  which  is  so  prevalent  in  those  two  months,  buzzing  about 


j<$  Strawberry  Culture 

lights  at  night.  The  grub,  after  being  hatched,  is  small  and 
lives  in  the  ground  for  three  years,  growing  larger  each  season, 
until  it  transforms  and  becomes  a  beetle.  It  is  a  mistake  to  sup- 
pose that  ground  containing  small  grubs  is  a  safe  place  in  which 
to  plant  strawberries.  These  are"  the  most  dangerous,  as  they 
still  have  a  year  or  two  in  which  to  live  and  eat,  while  the  work 
of  the  larger  ones  underground  is  almost  finished.  A  large  one 
is  far  more  destructive  than  a  small  one  for  one  season,  however. 

The  presence  of  a  grub  under  a  plant  is  detected  by  the  wilt- 
ing of  the  small,  tender  leaves,  the  larger  ones  still  continuing 
to  remain  apparently  fresh.  A  gentle  pull  will  generally  bring 
the  plant  up  with  about  half  an  inch  of  roots  attached  to  the 
crown,  the  grub  having  eaten  them  off  at  that  point.  By  shav- 
ing the  ground  off  carefully  with  a  hoe,  the  grub  will  frequently 
be  found.  This  should  always  be  done,  otherwise  it  will  prob- 
ably destroy  several  more  plants.  There  is  no  way  of  saving  the 
plants  except  by  killing  the  individual  grubs,,  so  far  as  I  know. 

To  avoid  trouble  from  grubs  there  are  some  methods  of  more 
or  less  avail.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  better  to  set  strawberry 
plants  on  land  that  has  been  "hoed  crops''  for  two,  or  better, 
three  years.  If  this  cannot  be  done,  land  that  has  been  in  rank 
red  clover  is  generally  less  to  be  feared  than  that  which  has 
been  in  grass.  Deep  plowing  very  late  in  the  fall  is  believed  to 
kill  many  grubs. 

Several  mechanical  devices  for  destroying  May  beetles  have 
been  tried.  The  principle  of  all  is  to  attract  the  beetles  by  a 
light  at  night  and,  when  they  fly  against  an  obstacle  and  fall,  to 
catch  them  in  a  vessel  containing  water  and  a  little  kerosene. 
It  may  be  a  lamp  set  behind  a  window  with  a  trough  fixed  to 
the  window-sill  outside,  a  lantern  set  over  a  tub,  or  other  device. 
It  is  urged  against  all  these  that  they  kill  many  friendly  insects. 


Strawberry  Culture  j? 

If  early  potatoes  are  planted  among  strawberries,  the  grubs 
will  be  found  largely  in  the  hills  of  potatoes  and  may  be  killed 
at  digging  time. 

STRAWBERRY  CROWN-BORER  (Tylodermafragariae). — This 
was  quite  fully  described  by  Prof.  Wm.  B.  Alwood,  now  of  Vir- 
ginia, in  the  report  of  the  Ohio  Station  in  1887.  He*  describes 
the  adult  as  a  small  beetle,  three-sixteenths  of  an  inch  long, 
deep  chestnut  brown,  a  member  of  the  curculio  family.  It  lays 
its  eggs  on  the  crown  at  the  base  of  the  leaves,  probably  in  April 
or  May.  The  young  grub,  when  hatched,  eats  its  way  into  the 
crown,  where  it  spends  its  whole  life  tunneling  through  the 
crown  and  destroying  the  plant.  The  beetle  emerges  in  August 
or  early  fall.  The  best  preventive  lies  in  washing  plants  before 
setting,  planting  only  on  ground  on  which  strawberries  have  not 
been  grown  for  a  year  and  at  a  distance  of  a  few  rods  from  any 
other  strawberry  bed.  Burning  old  beds  over  after  fruiting  is 
good.  When  plants  are  found  infested  they  should  be  dug  up 
and  burned.  The  beetle  cannot  fly  and  will  not  go  far  unless 
carried. 

STRAWBERRY  ROOT-BORER  (Anarsia  lineatella).  Mr.  H.  N. 
Starnes,  of  the  Georgia  Station,  calls  this  the  "crown  miner.'* 
He  describes  it  as  a  "a  minute  reddish  caterpillar,  larva  of  a 
small  dark-gray  moth,  completely  riddling  the  crown  and  larger 
roots  by  tunneling  in  all  directions  through  them."  Professor 
Alwood  says  that  the  affected  plants  are  almost  sure  to  die  in  the 
fall,  but,  if  they  live  till  spring,  they  will  be  useless.  The  rem- 
edy is  rotation  and  digging  up  the  affected  plants  and  burning 
them. 

STRAWBERRY  ROOT- WORM. — This  is  called  by  Mr.  R.  H. 
Pettit,  of  the  Michigan  Station,  the  "strawberry  root-borer"  but 


40  Straivberry  Culhwe 

is  different  from  above.  Its  scientific  name  is  jypophorus  can- 
ellus.  Mr.  Pettit  describes  the  full-grown  beetle  as  "yellowish 
brown  with  four  black  spots  upon  the  wing  covers.  The  pro- 
thorax  and  head  are  colored  reddish  brown.  The  beetle  is  about 
one-eighth  of  an  inch  long.  The  larva  or  grub  is  of  about  the 
same  size  a-nd  resembles  the  common  white  grub  except  in  size. 
The  adults  hibernate  under  rubbish,  appear  most  numerous  in 
May,  lay  their  eggs,  and  eat  holes  in  the  strawberry  leaves  until 
the  fruit  is  picked.  The  grubs  eat  the  roots. 

This  pest  resembles  and  is  closely  related  to  Scelodonta  pu- 
bescens,  which  with  two  others,  is  described  by  Professor  Alwood. 
These  three  are  almost  alike  in  grub  form,  but  do  their  work  at 
different  seasons  of  the  summer.  They  tunnel  in  the  bark  of 
the  roots,  not  often  entering  the  center.  Rotation,  and  the  de- 
struction of  affected  plants  seem  to  be  the  main  remedies. 

STRAWBERRY  ROOT-LOUSE  (Aphis  forbesi). — This  pest  is 
fully  described  by  Prof.  B.  Dwight  Sanderson,  in  Bulletin  No. 
49  of  the  Delaware  College  Station,  issued  December,  1900.  He 
describes  it  as  an  aphid  about  one-twentieth  of  an  inch  long, 
deep  bluish-black  in  color  and  somewhat  pear-shaped,  tapering 
toward  the  head.  These  lice  lacerate  the  roots  and  suck  out  the 
juices  to  such  an  extent  that  the  plant  withers  and  dies  or  is  un- 
able to  mature  a  full  crop.  "During  the  winter  the  small,  shiny 
black  aphis  eggs  may  be  found  thickly  clustered  upon  the  stems 
and  along  the  ribs  of  the  green  leaves."  They  hatch  in  March 
and  early  April.  The  young  lice  feed  on  the  leaves  at  first  but 
soon  go  down  to  the  tender  leaves  of  the  crown.  A  new  brood 
appears  every  ten  or  fifteen  days  all  summer. 

About  May  first  ants  become  numerous  in  infested  beds,  mak- 
ing nests  under  the  plants  and  carrying  the  young  aphids  down 


Strawberry  Culture  q.r 

from  the  leaves  to  the  roots,  where  they  take  care  of  them.  They 
are  instrumental  in  spreading  them.  As  ants  also  care  for  the 
corn  root-louse  and  the  melon  louse,  fields  in  which  these  crops 
were  grown  the  previous  year,  if  they  were  infested,  are  likely 
to  be  full  of  ants'  nests.  If  such  fields  are  planted  to  strawberries 
and  root-lice  appear,  the  destruction  wrought  by  them  will  be 
the  greater.  The  chief  enemies  of  these  aphids  are  internal  para- 
sites. Lady  birds  and  their  larvae  also  feed  upon  them. 

The  best  preventive  is  setting  clean  plants  on  clean  ground. 
Land  which  is  infested  should  be  worked  thoroughly  in  other 
crops  for  at  least  a  year.  Plants  should  be  secured  from  patches 
which  are  not  infested  or  else  fumigated  with  hydrocyanic  acid 
gas.  "Plow  under  old  infested  beds  before  May  first  or  locate 
new  beds  as  far  from  them  as  possible.  No  successful  remedial 
measures  are  known." 

STRAWBERRY  WEEVII,  (Anthonomusmusculus). — Mr.  Hugh 
N.  Starnes,  of  the  Georgia  Station,  said  of  it  in  1896,  "a  small 
black  beetle,  sometimes  attacks  the  buds  and  blossoms  of  the 
strawberry,  destroying  the  stamens  of  the  bi-sexual  varieties  and 
ruining  them  both  for  fruit  and  for  purposes  of  pollenization. 
Kerosene  emulsion  or  white  hellebore  have  been  suggested  as 
remedies — the  plants  to  be  sprayed  as  soon  as  the  buds  are  set." 
Professor  Beckwith,  of  the  Delaware  College  Station,  in  1892 
reported  investigations  made  by  him,  in  which  he  found  that 
pistillate  varieties  were  seldom  attacked  and  that  the  larvae  pene- 
trated the  ovary  of  the  blossom,  where  they  remained  until  the 
perfect  beetles  emerged.  Their  presence  in  the  ovary  is  mani- 
fested by  the  blasting  of  the  blossom,  the  pistils  turning  black. 

STAI^K  BORER  (Gortyna  nitela). — The  late  Dr.  Lugger,  of 
Minnesota,  said  this  pest  has  in  some  cases  devoured  the  fruit 


4.2  Strawberry  Culture 

of  the  strawberry.  When  the  caterpillars  are  young  they  are  of 
a  livid  hue  with  bright  stripes  along  the  body.  No  remedy  ex- 
cept hand  picking  is  known. 

MURKY  GROUND-BEETLE  (Harpalus  calignosus). — In  1898 
a  number  of  reports  of  .serious  damage  to  the  strawberry  crop, 
by  an  unknown  enemy,  were  made  to  Professor  Webster,  of  the 
Ohio  Station,  from  points  in  this  state.  By  very  careful  inves- 
tigations he  discovered  that  this  slim  black  beetle  was  doing  the 
work.  The  damage  is  done  by  eating  the  surface  and  seeds  of 
the  berries.  The  beetle  eats  at  night,  and  hides  in  the  daytime. 
So  far  as  I  have  heard,  the  injurious  work  of  this  beetle  has  been 
reported  only  in  Ohio  and  New  York  up  to  the  present  time. 

TARNISHED  PLANT  BUG  (Lygus  pratensis) — The  following 
is  taken  from  a  bulletin  on  this  insect  by  Prof.  J.  M.  Stedman, 
by  the  Missouri  Station  in  1899:  The  bug  is  about  one-fifth  of 
an  inch  long,  half  as  broad,  elliptical  in  shape  and  somewhat 
flattened.  It  varies  in  color  from  dark  brown,  through  light 
brown  to  yellowish  or  yellowish  green  with  darker  or  lighter 
markings.  The  head  is  black  or  reddish.  The  under  side  of 
the  body  is  lighter  than  the  back.  The  adults  hibernate  under 
rubbish,  stones,  leaves,  etc.,  come  out  on  the  first  warm  days 
and  commence  their  destructive  work  by  piercing  and  sucking 
the  juices  from  the^leaf  buds.  The  females  soon  lay  eggs,  which 
hatch  in  a  few  days,  when  the  young  and  adults  attack  the 
flowrer  buds.  Several  broods  are  brought  out  in  one  summer, 
which,  later  in  the  season,  attack  the  tender  shoots  and  fruits  of 
great  number  of  orchard  and  garden  plants.  The  bug  is  very 
lively  and  hard  to  catch  except  early  in  the  morning.  To  this 
bug  is  ascribed  much  of  the  "buttoning"  of  strawberries. 

The  best  remedy  in  case  of  attack  on  strawberries  \sfresh 


Strawberry  Culture  ^j~ 

mid  pure  pyrethrum,  mixed  with  four  times  its  weight  of  common 
wheat  flour,  applied  to  the  plants,  with  a  bellows  made  for  the 
purpose  or  I^eggett's  "  Powder  Gun,"  early  in  the  morning  when 
the  dew  is  on  and  the  bugs  are  not  active.  Or  the  pyrethrum 
may  be  mixed  with  hot  water  at  the  rate  of  one  pound  to  fifteen 
gallons,  stirred  till  it  cools,  and  be  applied  early  in  the  morn- 
ing with  a  spray  pump,  using  a  "Bordeaux"  nozzle.  In  either 
case  the  leaves  must  be  moved  aside  with  one  hand  so  that  the 
blossoms  and  young  fruit  .may  be  reached.  Do  not  use  poisons, 
as  they  are  likely  to  poison  the  fruit  and  will  not  hurt  the  bugs. 

STRAWBERRY  LEAF-ROI^ER  (Phoxopteris  comptana) — The 
following  is  taken  in  condensed  form  from  Bulletin  176  of  the 
Michigan  Station,  prepared  by  Mr.  Rufus  H.  Pettit  in  1898: 
* '  The  caterpillars  are  small  yellowish  or  green  'worms, '  which 
feed  on  the  leaves  and  cause  them  to  curl  up  tightly  into  little 
clumps  which  are  then  bound  together  with  a  silken  web.  The 
caterpillars  or  larvse  may  be  found  usually  by  pulling  apart  some 
of  the  curled  leaves.  They  vary  in  color  from  pale  yellow  to  quite 
a  decided  green,  and  when  full  grown  are  about  one-third  of  an 
inch  in  length,  slender  and  gently  tapering.  The  adult  winged 
form,  not  seen  so  often,  is  a  very  small  and  delicate  moth,  reddish 
brown  and  dusky  in  color,  with  black  and  white  markings  and 
about  one-fourth  of  an  inch  in  length,  while  the  extended  wings 
measure  a  little  less  than  half  an  inch."  The  first  brood  of  cat- 
erpillars appear  in  June,  the  second  late  in  the  fall. 

Remedies.  For  the  June  crop  spray  with  kerosene  emulsion, 
long  enough  before  the  fruit  ripens  to  give  the  oil  time  to  evap- 
orate. After  bearing,  mow  the  bed  and  burn  it  over.  Then 
spray  with  Paris  green  and  lime,  repeating  as  long  as  any  cater- 
pillars appear. 


44-  S  taw  berry  Culture 

NEAT  LEAF  Rou,ER  (Eccopsis  permudana)—T$ot  so  com- 
mon as  the  foregoing.  The  moth  is  greenish.  Mr.  H.  N.  Starnes, 
of  the  Georgia  Station,  says:  "The  caterpillar  is  green,  with 
a  black  head,  and  very  active,  attacking  buds  and  flowers,  which 
it  draws  into  its  sewed-up  leaf  to  feed  upon  undisturbed."  He 
thinks  that  hand  picking  and  burning  the  plat  in  early  winter 
are  perhaps  the  best  remedies. 

SMEARED  DAGGER  (Apatela  oblinata) — This  is  another 
enemy  which  attacks  the  leaves.  Mr.  Starnes  says  :  "This  cater- 
pillar is  the  larva  of  a  grayish  moth.  It  is  black,  with  red  tufted 
tubercles  and  variegated  with  bright  yellow  spots  and  bands. 
Two  broods  appear:  one,  during  the  fruiting  season,  for  which 
the  remedy  is  pyrethrum  powder;  the  other,  appearing  in  the 
early  fall,  may  be  controlled  by  Paris  green — one  ounce  to  sixty 
gallons  of  water." 

STRAWBERRY  SAW-FI^Y  (Harpiphorusmaculatus) — First  de- 
scribed as  Emphytus  maculatus.  "The  'worm'  or  false  cater- 
pillar is  a  dirty  yellow  or  yellowish  naked  caterpillar,  not  quite 
three-fourths  of  an  inch  long.  Its  head  bears  three  or  more 
brown  spots.  There  are  twenty-two  legs,"  says  Mr.  R.  H.  Pet- 
tit,  of  the  Michigan  Station.  "Early  in  May  the  eggs  are  said 
to  be  laid  in  slits  cut  in  the  leaf -stem  of  the  strawberry  leaf. 
The  eggs  hatch,  and  the  young  false  caterpillars  attack  the 
leaves. ' '  A  second  brood  appears  in  August  or  September. 

Mr.  Pettit  says  that  after  the  plants  have  bloomed  and  before 
fruit  begins  to  ripen,  these  pests  may  be  killed  with  kerosene 
emulsion,  thoroughly  applied  so  as  to  strike  every  worm.  He 
thinks  air-slaked  lime  and  sulphur  or  lime  alone,  sprinkled 
through  coarse  bagging  on  the  plants,  would  kill  the  worms. 


Strawberry  Culture  4.5 

The  SPOTTED  PARIA  (Paria  sex-notata),  STRIPED  FLEA 
BEETLE  (Phyllotreta  vitata)  and  some  others,  which  I  am  un- 
able to  describe,  also  injure  strawberry  plants  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent  in  some  places. 

FUNGOUS  DISEASE 

STRAWBERRY  LEAF-BLIGHT,  Rust,  Leaf-Spot,  Spot  disease 
(Sphaer el  la  fr agaric?} — This  disease  generally  manifests  itself 
first  in  June  in  a  brownish  red  or  red-purple  spot,  which  soon 
changes  to  a  dead  white  spot  with  a  narrow  red  purple  or  purpl- 
ish brown  border.  "These  spots  often  join  and  form  a  single 
large  discolored  area." 

The  general  conditions  conducive  to  attacks  of  the  rust  are 
a  weakened  condition  of  the  plant,  due  to  warm,  damp  weather 
producing  rank  growth,  followed  by  hot,  dry  weather  which 
checks  growth;  bearing  a  heavy  crop;  and  age  and  general 
weakness  of  plants;  also,  hot,  damp  weather  and  low,  poorly 
drained  land,  which  are  conditions  favorable  to  the  growth  of 
most  fungi.  One  writer  says  that  rust  is  more  prevalent  on 
sandy  soil  than  on  clay  loam. 

It  frequently  causes  great  damage  to  a  crop  by  appearing  after 
the  fruit  has  set,  weakening  the  leaves  and  attacking  the  fruit- 
stems  and  hulls,  "cutting  off  the  supply  of  nourishment  from 
the  berries  and  disfiguring  them  by  the  wilting  of  the  calyx." 
It  is  generally  worst  late  in  the  season  and  sometimes  weakens 
plants  so  they  die  during  the  winter. 

Probably  the  best  preventive  is  to  keep  the  plants,  as  far  as 
possible,  in  a  vigorous  condition  by  good  culture  and  plenty  of 
food.  After  fruiting,  mowing  and  burning  over  the  beds  will 
kill  most  of  the  fungus ;  but  a  better  way  still  is  to  plow  them 


$6  Strawberry  Culture 

under  if  they  are  very  rusty.  The  chief  chemical  -  remedy  is 
Bordeaux  mixture,  which  may  be  sprayed  on  young  plants  as 
soon  as  growth  begins  and  three  or  four  times  during  the  season 
as  may  be  necessary.  The  following  spring,  spray  just  before 
blossoming  and  ten  days  or  two  weeks  later.  Where  plants 
have  been  heeled  in  before  planting  in  the  spring,  this  may  be 
done  easily  while  they  are  in  a  small,  compact  bed. 

Some  varieties  are  very  susceptible  to  the  attacks  of  rust 
while  others  are  almost  proof  against  it.  In  the  latter  class  are 
found  most  of  the  varieties  which  run  rampantly. 


Strawberry  Culture  for  Pleasure 

Assuming  the  ground  to  be  very  rich  and  thoroughly  pre- 
pared, select  large,  handsome  varieties  of  good  quality.  About 
the  first  of  April  plant  them  in  rows  four  feet  apart,  and  one  foot 
in  the  row,  and  only  one  variety  in  each  row.  They  should  receive 
the  best  of  culture,  and  have  every  blossom  and  runner  cut  off 
promptly.  If  this  is  kept  up  till  July,  the  plants  will  be  very 
strong,  and  will  be  sending  out  great,  thick  runners.  Select  two 
from  each  plant,  and  cut  them  off  beyond  the  first  node.  One 
is  to  be  layered  on  each  side  of  the  row,  nine  inches  from  the 
old  plant,  and  placed  so  that  its  runners  will  run  towards  the 
next  row.  These  are  to  be  layered  carefully  on  the  surface — not 
buried  a  quarter  of  an  inch.  In  three  weeks,  with  good  culture* 
they  will  be  well  rooted  and  self-supporting.  Cut  off  the  runners 
close  to  the  young  plant,  and  hoe  up  and  carry  off  the  old  ones. 
This  brings  you  up  to  the  last  of  July,  and  the  bed  is  stocked 
with  better  plants  than  could  be  transplanted  by  any  means,  and 


Strawberry  Culture  4-J 

each  one  occupying  two  square  feet  of  surface — 21780  to  the 
acre.  With  the  best  of  care  to  the  end  of  the  season,  and  a  heavy 
covering  of  straw  put  on  not  later  than  November  15th,  each 
plant  should  yield  a  quart — 680  bushels  per  acre.  This  is  a  high 
object  to  aim  at,  but  plants  have  produced  over  two  quarts  at 
less  than  a  year  old. 

Growing  Exhibition  Berries 

The  difference  between  a  good,  well  grown  berry  and  one  of 
the  immense  specimens  that  are  sometimes  grown  is  so  great  that 
it  is  hardly  realized.  Small  berries,  such  as  are  often  seen  in  the 
market,  will  run  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred  to 
the  quart.  When  one  hundred  will  make  a  quart  they  are  large, 
and  very  large  when  they  run  from  forty  to  sixty.  When  large 
varieties  are  well  grown,  a  quart  basket  contains  three  layers  of 
nine  each,  and  such  are  readily  sold  at  a  good  price  compared 
with  the  smallest  that  are  rated  as  large.  Forty  years  ago,  Rev. 
J.  Knox,  of  Pittsburg,  sold  hundreds  of  bushels  of  the  Jucunda 
at  sixteen  dollars  a  bushel.  They  were  picked  in  pint  boxes, 
ten  berries  in  each,  and  retailed  at  one  dollar  a  box.  Mr.  Henry 
Jeroleman,  of  New  Jersey,  marketed  a  great  many  berries  that 
ran  ten  to  the  quart.  Mr.  John  F.  Beaver,  of  Dayton,  O.,  who  is 
one  of  the  most  successful  amateur  growers  of  the  west,  has  grown 
handsome  berries  nine  inches  in  circumference.  Mr.  A.  T. 
Goldsborough,  of  Washington,  D.  C.,  has  grown  four-ounce 
berries.  Mr.  Joseph  Haywood,  of  Ambler,  Pa.,  has  done  the 
same.  Last  year  his  berries  were  not  up  to  the  standard,  but 
he  had  five  that  made  a  quart.  Mr.  E.  C.  Davis,  of  Northamp- 
ton, Mass.,  is  one  of  the  most  successful  growers  in  the  country. 


4.8  Strawberry  Culture 

He  has  raised  berries  of  perfect  form,  three  inches  'in  diameter 
and  upward. 

To  accomplish  these  results  two  things  are  necessary;  good 
varieties  and  good  culture.  It  would  be  useless  to  try  to  grow 
exhibition  berries  from  any  but  the  large  varieties.  It  is  a  fact, 
too,  that  most  of  these  mammoth  berries  are  produced  on  young 
plants  of  the  previous  year's  growth.  Mr.  Knox  set  his  plants 
in  the  spring,  on  rich  clay  soil,  eighteen  inches  apart  each  way. 
They  received  good  culture,  with  hand  labor  only,  and  all  the 
runners  were  cut  off  faithfully.  This  is  no  more  than  others 
have  done,  but  in  addition  to  this  he  covered  his  beds  in  the  fall 
with  four  or  five  inches  of  stable  manure.  Most  of  this  was 
raked  off  in  the  spring,  but  the  soluble  plant  food  that  it  con- 
tained was  washed  into  the  soil  during  the  winter,  and  furnished 
all  that  the  plants  could  use  in  the  spring.  It  also  prevented 
any  injury  from  freezing  and  thawing. 

Mr.  Jeroleman  pursues  a  very  different  course.  In  September, 
after  digging  early  potatoes,  he  plows  his  land  twice,  so  as  to 
get  it  very  fine  and  mellow,  takes  well-grown  layers  and  plants 
them  for  the  next  season's  crop.  Almost  immediately  he  covers 
the  ground  from  six  to  twelve  inches  on  each  side  of  the  plants 
with  three  inches  of  stable  manure.  About  December  first  the 
entire  bed  is  covered  with  an  inch  of  salt  hay. 

Very  few  people  know  what  can  be  accomplished  by  taking 
up  good  layers  that  have  been  well  protected  in  the  winter  and 
setting  them  in  rich,  well-prepared  soil  early  in  the  spring.  I 
know  one  man  who  was  very  successful  in  getting  prizes  at  straw- 
berry shows,  and  he  usually  raised  his  berries  from  plants  set 
the  same  season,  early.  This  shows  that  the  strawberry  plant 
partakes  of  the  characteristics  of  a  bulb.  While  it  does  not 


Strawberry  Culture  4.9 

shed  its  roots  or  leaves,  it  may  be  taken  up  at  the  end  of  the 
season's  growth,  after  its  blossom  buds  are  developed,  or  before 
next  season's  growth  begins,  and  taken  elsewhere  to  bloom  and 
fruit. 

Mr.  Beaver  pursues  still  another  course.  His  wonderful  suc- 
cess depends  less  on  the  method  adopted  than  on  his  faithfulness 
in  attending  to  the  details.  When  his  bed  is  done  bearing  it  is 
immediately  spaded  and  prepared  for  replanting.  He  prefers  to 
have  the  ground  ready  some  weeks  in  advance  so  as  to  have 
time  to  settle,  for  he  believes  in  firm  soil.  A  strong  point  with 
him  is  never  to  let  the  plant  receive  a  check  from  the  time  the 
runner  first  becomes  rooted  until  the  end  of  the  growing  season. 
To  gain  this  end  he  is  not  in  a  hurry  to  set  out  his  plants,  for  it 
is  sometimes  difficult  to  keep  plants  in  full  vigor  if  planted  very 
early,  and  every  runner  kept  off.  A  plant  rooted  in  September 
will  produce  as  large  berries  as  one  rooted  in  July,  but  not  so 
many  of  them. 

Here  is  his  method :  In  July  strong,  healthy  plants  are 
selected  to  take  runners  from.  Only  two  to  four  are  taken  from 
each  plant.  They  are  not  potted,  but  layered  in  the  bed,  and 
are  watered  while  they  are  rooting,  lest  they  receive  a  check. 
When  they  are  rooted  they  are  transferred  to  the  bed  with  per- 
haps a  quart  of  earth.  They  are  shaded  and  watered  until  estab- 
lished in  their  new  bed.  Then  frequent  hoeing  is  the  rule.  Not 
a  weed  is  allowed  to  show  its  head,  and  every  runner  is  cut  off 
before  it  exhausts  the  plant.  We  would  call  this  good  culture, 
but  this  is  not  all.  At  various  times  through  the  summer  the 
spaces  between  the  rows  are  covered  with  stable  manure,  and 
then  thoroughly  watered.  Perhaps  this  manure  will  be  drawn 
up  close  to  the  plants  the  next  day,  and  the  spaces  hoed.  This 


SQ  Strawberry  Culture 

process  is  repeated  at  intervals,  and  by  the  end  of  the  season 
there  is  a  cushion  of  this  leached  manure  two  inches  deep,  ex- 
tending from  the  plant  perhaps  a  foot  into  the  space.  As  a  result 
no  freezing  can  reach  the  the  roots  until  winter  weather  comes. 
About  the  first  of  December  the  whole  surface,  plants  and  all, 
is  carefully  covered  with  fine  hay  or  lawn  clippings.  And  this 
is  held  in  place  by  strips  from  the  planing  mill.  Barly  in  spring, 
as  soon  as  growth  commences,  the  covering  is  removed,  and  the 
spaces  up  to  within  about  six  inches  of  the  rows  are  spaded  to  a 
a  good  depth.  After  repeated  trials  he  has  found  this  to  be  the 
best  plan  on  his  soil.  All  weeds  are  kept  down  by  shallow  hoe- 
ing  until  fruit  commences  to  color,  when  the  whole  surface  is 
mulched. 

Mr.  Goldsborough  raises  his  plants  from  cuttings  early  in  the 
summer,  and  transplants  them  into  very  hard  ground  with  only 
a  few  inches  of  mellow  soil  on  top.  He  has  had  great  success 
with  the  foreign  varieties.  He  has  had  Laxton's  Commander  to 
weigh  four  ounces.  A  piece  of  ground  that  had  been  used  as  a 
cattle  yard  for  years  and  was  very  rich  and  as  hard  as  it  could 
be,  was  covered  about  four  inches  with  woods  earth,  and  the 
cutting  plants  set  into  it.  They  received  good  culture,  and  were 
fine  plants  at  the  end  of  the  season.  With  having  all  the  run- 
ners cut,  each  plant  developed  a  number  of  crowns.  Very  early 
in  the  spring,  a  part  of  these  crowns  were  cut  off  with  a  sharp 
knife.  This  gave  the  remaining  ones  an  extra  chance.  From 
the  time  the  plants  came  into  bloom  until  the  fruit  was  ripe,  they 
had  every  attention.  Liquid  manure  was  given,  and  all  but  one 
or  two  berries  were  removed  from  each  stem.  With  his  method 
he  has  never  succeeded  in  raising  our  American  varieties  of  as 
large  size  as  the  foreign  ones. 


Sirawbervy  Culture  ji 

Mr.  Hay  wood  grows  strawberries  by  the  acre  and  has  aston- 
ishing success.  His  is  neither  the  hill  nor  matted  row  method, 
but  a  compromise  between  the  two.  He  sets  his  plants  in  the 
spring  as  do  almost  all  commercial  growers.  Every  detail  of  the 
work  is  faithfully  attended  to.  Instead  of  cutting  off  all  the 
runners,  he  selects  a  certain  number  from  each  plant  and  layers 
them  systematically.  From  that  time,  on  no  more  runners  are 
allowed  to  grow.  At  the  end  of  the  season  the  entire  bed,  plants 
and  all,  is  covered  with  manure  about  three  inches  deep.  This 
is  never  removed,  but  the  plants  grow  up  through  it.  If  any  one 
^seems  to  be  unable  to  get  up  through  the  coarse  litter,  it  receives 
assistance.  Growing  such  fine  plants  as  Mr.  Hay  wood  does 
would  insure  great  success  of  itself,  but  covering  the  bed  with 
such  a  coating  of  manure  enables  him  to  lead  all  competitors. 

Mr.  Davis  is  a  professional  man,  and  raises  berries  and  roses 
for  pleasure.  He  has  probably  received  more  great  prizes  for 
fine  berries  than  any  other  man  in  the  United  States.  His  suc- 
cess has  been  most  remarkable  for  many  years.  He  tests  nearly 
all  that  come  into  the  market,  but  the  Margaret  is  his  favorite. 
It  ripens  berries  every  day  for  four  or  five  weeks,  and  such  berries 
— as  large  as  good  sized  lemons.  I/ike  all  famous  growers,  he 
owes  much  of  his  success  to  his  great  thoroughness  from  start 
to  finish.  Unlike  Mr.  Goldsborough,  Mr.  Davis  pulverizes  his 
ground  until  he  can  thrust  his  arm  into  it  up  to  the  elbow.  He 
sets  out  his  plants  in  the  summer,  after  some  early  crop,  and  he 
takes  but  a  single  crop  from  his  plants.  His  success  is  largely 
due  to  his  management  of  the  plants  during  the  few  weeks  pre- 
vious to  the  ripening  of  the  earliest  berries.  As  soon  as  the  first 
berries  are  formed,  two, or  three  are  selected  011  each  fruit-stalk, 
and  all  others  cut  off.  This  would  insure  great  berries,  but  this 


52  Strawberry  Culture 

is  only  the  beginning.  He  still  has  over  a  month  in  which  to 
add  to  their  growth,  and  he  not  only  pushes  the  berries  by  every 
means,  but  he  prolongs  this  period  of  growth  as  much  as  possible. 
Food  and  water  are  supplied  in  abundance,  liquid  manure  being 
applied  every  day,  and  sometimes  as  often  as  three  times  a  day. 
The  beds  are  shaded  with  paper  screens  in  the  heat  of  the  day, 
so  as  to  prolong  the  period  of  growth.  Of  course  he  lets  most 
of  his  plants  bear  all  they  will,  this  pruning  being  done  to  ob- 
tain extraordinary  specimens.  He  raises  a  great  many  three- 
inch  berries  without  any  pruning,  and  a  well-formed  berry  of 
that  size  is  simply  immense. 


Increasing  New  Varieties 

When  a  grower  pays  a  dollar  for  half  a  dozen  plants  of  a  new 
sort  he  generally  wants  to  make  the  most  of  them,  so  as  to  have 
plants  the  next  season  for  planting,  and  some  for  bearing.  Seve- 
ral methods  may  be  employed,  but  the  following  is  as  simple  as- 
any:  Set  the  plants  in  a  row  six  feet  apart,  early  in  the  spring. 
Of  course,  the  ground  should  be  well  prepared  and  enriched. 
After  planting  cover  the  ground  with  an  inch  or  two  of  fine 
manure  for,  at  least,  a  foot  from  the  plants  in  every  direction. 
This  will  keep  the  ground  moist  and  furnish  plant  food.  If  a 
strip  of  ground  two  feet  wide  is  cbvered  with  manure  from  plant 
to  plant,  so  much  the  better.  The  blossoms  must  be  cut  off  as 
soon  as  they  can  be.  A  little  later  runners  will  appear,  and  they 
too  must  be  cut  off.  The  first  ruunners  are  weak,  and  will  not 
make  as  good  plants  as  later  ones.  Of  course,  the  surface  must 
be  kept  stirred.  When  the  plants  have  become  strong  and  are 
sending  out  stout  runners,  perhaps  early  in  June,  train  two  from 


Strawberry  Culture  53 

each  plant  along  the  row  toward  the  next  plant.  These  are  to 
be  layered  as  soon  as  they  are  ready  to  root.  When  the  row  is 
filled,  nip  every  runner  that  appears  through  the  rest  of  the 
season.  If  it  is  desired  to  raise  some  plants  for  the  next  year's 
planting,  let  them  be  grown  from  one  or  more  plants  at  the  end 
of  the  row.  If  one  wishes  to  grow  a  matted  row  either  wide  or 
narrow  he  can  do  so,  but  it  might  be  well  in  that  case  to  set  the 
original  plants  three  or  four  feet  apart  instead  of  six.  In  testing 
a  new  variety  it  is  well  to  set  a  few  plants  of  some  well-known, 
desirable  sort,  giving  it  the  same  chance  as  the  new  one  gets. 

If  one  has  an  opportunity  to  sell  plants,  and  wishes  to  increase 
the  stock  of  a  new,  high-priced  sort,  there  are  several  meth- 
ods that  may  be  adopted.  When  one  pays  a  dollar  for  six  plants 
and  expects  to  get  fifty  cents  a  dozen  for  the  same  sort  the  next 
year,  or  perhaps  a  dollar  a  dozen  within  four  months,  it  is  a  real 
pleasure  to  increase  the  stock  as  rapidly  as  possible.  I  had  a 
friend  who  raised  from  one  thousand  to  twelve  hundred  plants 
from  one  in  a  single  season.  Here  is  an  excellent  method:  Set 
the  six  plants  in  a  circle  three  feet  in  diameter,  in  such  a  way 
that  they  will  run  out  from  the  centre  of  the  circle.  Place  a 
barrel  with  holes  in  the  bottom  for  drainage,  in  the  centre  of 
the  circle,  and  fill  it  one  quarter  full  of  manure — almost  any 
kind.  After  the  plants  have  become  established — say  in  two 
weeks — pour  several  pails  of  water  into  the  barrel  of  manure. 
This  will  carry  down  some  of  the  fertility  and  soak  the  ground 
around  the  plants,  causing  a  rank  growth.  This  is  to  be  done 
as  often  as  necessary  to  keep  the  ground  moist — from  once  to 
twice  a  week  according  to  the  season.  More  manure  is  to  be 
added  occasionally  so  as  to  keep  up  the  strength  of  the  liquid. 
The  blossoms  must  be  cut  off,  and  every  runner  layered  so  that 


5/  Strawberry  Culture 

the  young  plants  may  become  self-supporting  as  soon  as  possi- 
ble. The  surface  of  the  ground  must  be  stirred  frequently  to 
prevent  a  crust  from  forming.  If  the  earlier  runners  are  potted 
and  planted  in  a  new  bed,  so  that  each  one  may  have  plenty  of 
room,  a  large  area  may  be  covered  in  a  season. 

Another  good  method  is  simply  to  set  the  plants  six  or  eight 
feet  apart  each  way,  giving  good  culture  and  using  plenty  of 
liquid  manure  among  the  young  runners  all  through  the  season. 
One  who  has  never  used  liquid  manure  has  but  a  faint  idea  of 
what  may  be  accomplished  by  it.  It  need  not  be  strong,  indeed 
it  is  usually  better  not  to  be.  Even  a  teaspoon ful  of  saltpeter 
dissolved  in  a  pail  of  water  will  show  its  effects  on  plants  within, 
twenty -four  hours. 

Growing  Plants 

Growing  strawberries  is  one  business;  growing  plants  is  an-- 
other.  In  the  former,  surplus  plants  are  a  by-product,  while  in. 
the  latter  it  is  the  fruit  that  is  the  by-product.  The  best  place- 
to  get  plants  for  a  start  is  from  a  plant  grower;  the  worst  place 
is  from  a  neighbor's  old  bed.  Other  things  being  equal,  it  is. 
best  to  get  them  from  the  plant  grower  nearest  home.  It  is. 
generally  better  to  get  them  from  one  who  makes  a  specialty  of 
growing  small  fruit  plants  than  from  a  general  nursery,  especi-- 
ally  if  in  the  latter  case  they  are  to  be  sent  with  trees.  I  believe: 
it  pays  much  better  to  have  plants  sent  by  express  than  by  freight, 
even  if  the  charges  are  high.  It  must  be  remembered  that  im 
the  growing  season  a  plant  out  of  ground  is  like  a  fish  out  of 
water,  every  hour  brings  it  nearer  death. 

When  one  is  growing  only  a  few  strawberries,  I  believe  it  is? 
better  to  buy  plants  each  year  than  to  grow  them.  Where  one: 


Strawberry  Culture  55 

is  growing  them  on  a  large  scale,  however,  he  should  by  all 
means  grow  his  own  plants,  unless  there  is  a  reliable  grower  of 
plants  near  enough  so  that  he  can  go  and  get  the  plants  just 
when  he  wants  them.  When  I  advise  people  to  grow  their  own 
plants  I  do  not  by  any  means  intend  to  convey  the  idea  that 
they  should  dig  plants  from  beds  grown  for  fruit.  In  nine  cases 
out  of  ten  they  will  dig  the  little  plants  in  the  spaces,  which  are 
the  poorest  on  the  place.  It  is  very  poor  economy  to  set  poor 
plants  simply  because  they  are  cheap.  Furthermore  the  last 
plants  set  on  the  runners  frequently  develop  no  fruit-buds  the 
first  season  but  run  more  than  others;  and  most  varieties  run 
too  much  for  fruit  growers  anyway.  An  extensive  grower  should 
have  a  special  bed  for  growing  plants.  He  should  set  in  it  good 
plants,  give  them  good  care,  watch  closely  for  insect  enemies 
and  rust,  spray  them  if  necessary,  protect  them  in  the  winter, 
and,  in  the  spring,  have  good  clean  plants  which  he  can  trans- 
plant just  when  the  conditins  are  most  favorable,  without  any 
delays  and  with  no  risk  of  poor  handling  and  bad  packing. 

If  one  desires  to  plant  in  the  fall,  the  plant  bed  should  be  set 
in  the  fall,  so  that  the  plants  will  send  out  runners  early  in  the 
summer.  In  digging  plants  in  the  summer  and  fall  there  is 
generally  a  great  waste  of  plants,  part,  at  least,  of  which  may 
be  avoided,  as  is  explained  under  the  heads  of  Transplanted 
Layers  and  Raising  Plants  from  Cuttings. 


Testing  New  Varieties 

Bvery  grower  is  desirous  of  getting  the  best  varieties  for  his 
purpose,  and  this  is  as  it  should  be.  The  plants  are  our  em- 
ployes, and  their  work  is  to  collect  the  plant  food  found  in  the 
soil  and  make  it  into  berries.  There  is  a  wide  difference  in  the 


56  Strawberry  Culture 

characteristics  of  varieties.  No  two  make  the  same  kind  of 
berries,  I  might  almost  say  that  no  two  growers  want  the  same 
kind.  If  one  desires  the  very  finest  for  a  discriminating  market 
he  will  get  little  satisfaction  from  small  berries  no  matter  how 
great  the  yield.  If  one  is  content  with  what  he  has  and  refuses 
to  test  new  sorts,  he  is  liable  to  see  some  of  his  customers  go  to 
competitors  for  the  best  berries.  Some  growers  are  prejudiced 
against  new  varieties  because  they  have  purchased  some  that 
failed  to  meet  their  wants.  Some  are  even  of  the  opinion  that 
plant  growers  are  less  reliable  than  are  other  men.  It  is  not. 
easy  to  write  a  description  of  a  variety  that  will  convey  the  ex- 
act truth  to  others,  but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  nearly  every  variety 
had  some  characteristics  that  made  it  seem  worthy  of  introduc- 
tion to  the  originator  or  introducer;  and  every  grower  should 
be  able  to  tell,  from  the  detcription,  whether  it  will  be  worth 
testing  by  him.  If  a  grower  wants  berries  for  home  use,  size, 
beauty  and  quality  are  the  characteristics  to  seek;  for  a  near 
market  that  is  not  too  discriminating,  productiveness  is  of  the 
first  importance;  for  a  distant  market,  one  must  have  firmness 
to  stand  shipping;  for  exhibition,  size  and  beauty  are  indispens- 
able. For  the  farmer  who  takes  no  particular  pride  in  berries, 
but  desires  to  have  his  family  well  supplied  with  good  ordinary 
fruit,  with  the  least  amount  of  trouble,  one  of  the  tough,  reliable 
varieties  that  succeed  everywhere  and  have  a  long  season,  should 
be  chosen.  It  is  safer  for  each  grower  to  test  several  varieties, 
and  hold  on  to  at  least  two;  for  they  rarely  behave  alike  under 
different  conditions,  and  two  or  three  sorts  are  more  likely  to 
give  a  supply  than  is  a  single  variety.  One  should  have  both 
early  and  late  so  as  to  extend  the  season. 

New  varieties  are  first  offered  at  a  high  price,  and  it  is  not 


Strawberry  Culture  57 

expected  that  any  one  will  buy  many  to  start  with,  but  if  one 
desires  to  keep  up  with  the  times,  he  can  buy  half  a  dozen,  and 
see  for  himself  whether  it  is  an  acquisition. 


Raising  Seedlings 

There  is  great  pleasure  in  raising  new  varieties  from  seed. 
They  come  into  bearing  so  soon,  and  it  is  so  easy  to  combine 
the  qualities  of  two  varieties,  one  being  imperfect  or  pistillate, 
and  the  other  perfect  or  bi-sexual.  Suppose  that  one  wants  to 
produce  a  desirable,  very  late  variety.  He  could  select  the  Hunn 
which  is  the  latest  of  all,  pistillate,  and  somewhat  inclined  to 
rust.  This  would  be  the  mother,  or  seed-bearing  variety.  For 
the  male  parent  he  could  choose  the  Joe,  which  has  perfect  foli- 
age and  is  in  every  way  desirable.  One  plant  of  each  could 
be  planted  together  in  the  fall  or  early  spring,  away  from  other 
sorts,  and  a  few  fine  berries  grown.  The  outside  of  the  berry, 
containing  the  seed,  is  pared  off  and  mixed  with  sand  and  then 
dried.  It  will  keep  at  least  three  years.  It  may  be  sown  at 
once  and  given  some  shade  and  water  until  it  comes  up,  which 
it  will  do  in  from  two  to  four  weeks.  Some  of  the  seeds  will  re- 
main dormant  until  spring.  The  young  seedlings  are  very 
small  at  first,  and  will  need  attention  lest  they  dry  up  or  get 
choked  with  weeds.  As  soon  as  they  can  be  handled  they 
should  be  transplanted  a  few  inches  apart  so  that  they  may  have 
room  to  become  stocky.  In  September  they  will  be  ready  to  be 
transferred  to  the  place  where  they  are  to  fruit.  They  should 
then  receive  the  same  care  as  is  given  to  fall-set  plants.  Most 
important  of  all,  they  must  be  protected  in  winter.  It  requires 
care  to  raise  seedlings  in  the  summer,  as  a  little  drying  may  be 
too  much  for  them. 


5 8  Strawberry  Culture 

A  way  that  I  have  found  far  more  satisfactory  is  to  mix  the 
seed  with  some  sand  and  put  it  in  a  flower  pot,  any  time  from 
fall  till  spring,  and  sink  it  in  the  ground  and  cover  with  a  brick. 
The  north  side  of  a  building  where  the  pot  will  stay  frozen  is  a 
good  place.  The  pot  of  sand  and  seed  may  be  sowed  in  the  open 
in  early  spring,  just  as  one  would  sow  lettuce  seed.  It  comes 
up  promptly  and  there  is  a  whole  season  for  the  seedlings  to  get 
into  good  bearing  condition  for  the  next  year. 


Introducing  New  Varieties 

There  is,  I  think,  a  mistaken  idea  in  some  quarters  that  there 
is  a  great  deal  of  money  to  be  made  in  originating  and  intro- 
ducing new  varieties.  There  was  once,  but  that  time  has  passed. 
In  1873  I  sold  the  Sterling  and  Margaret  (not  the  present  Mar- 
garet, but  one  that  long  since  passed  from  view)  for  $1200.  In 
1894  I  purchased  the  Wm.  Belt  from  the  originator  for  $100. 
Some  good  varieties  that  have  been  introduced  on  a  commission 
basis  did  not  bring  the  originator  one-half  that  amount.  I  be- 
lieve that  disappointment  is  almost  invariably  in  store  for  the 
owner  of  a  seedling,  who  expects  to  make  a  large  amount  out 
of  it.  So  well  satisfied  am  I  on  this  point,  that  I  would  advise 
any  grower  who  has  a  seedling  of  such  value  that  it  gives  him 
an  advantage  over  his  competitors,  to  hold  on  to  it  and  keep  his 
advantage.  However,  from  long  experience,  I  will  give  a  little 
advice  to  those  who  do  not  see  fit  to  take  the  foregoing. 

In  the  first  place,  be  very  careful  to  whom  you  intrust  plants 
for  testing.  Many  an  originator  has  been  robbed  of  the  results 
of  his  labor  by  giving  a  few  plants  of  his  seedling  to  a  friend  or 
neighbor,  who  sold  them  to  some  plant  grower  who  was  uu- 


Strawberry  Culture  59 

scrupulous  enough  to  acquire  the  variety  in  such  a  way,  or  did 
so  innocently.  Moreover,  it  does  you  no  good  to  distribute 
plants  among  your  neighbors,  unless  they  happen  to  be  men  of 
reputation  in  the  strawberry  world,  which  is  not  usually  the 
case,  but  it  is  a  distinct  disadvantage  to  you  if  you  ever  desire 
to  sell  the  control  of  the  variety,  as  the  purchaser  has  no  assur- 
ance that  somebody  having  plants  will  not  put  them  on  the  mar- 
ket. The  best  place  to  have  new  varieties  tested  is  at  the  ex- 
periment stations  of  the  various  states.  There  it  is  done  by  men 
who  know  their  business,  are  perfectly  impartial,  have  large 
numbers  of  other  varieties  with  which  to  make  comparisons, 
and  whose  reports  are  accepted  as  authority  and  are  given  wide 
publicity.  It  is  also  well  to  send  seedlings  for  testing  to  a  num- 
ber of  plant  growers  and  experts  of  whose  integrity  one  is  satis- 
fied. 

If,  after  careful  testing  by  experiment  stations  and  compe- 
tent judges,  a  variety  appears  to  be  so  superior  as  to  warrant  its 
introduction,  there  are  three  ways  in  which  to  introduce  it. 
The  best,  in  my  opinion,  is  to  sell  it  to  some  plant  grower,  if  a 
fair  offer  is  made.  The  next  is  to  have  some  person  or  persons 
in  the  trade  introduce  it  on  commission,  the  usual  rates  being 
twenty  or  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  gross  receipts  to  the  origin- 
ator, although  more  is  sometimes  given,  where  the  variety  has 
been  very  well  tested  and  has  an  exceptionally  and  uniformly 
good  record.  The  third  way  is  for  the  originator  to  introduce 
it  himself.  Unless  he  is  a  plant  man.  this  is  a  poor  way  gener- 
ally. If  one  adopts  this  way,  however,  he  would  better  use  the 
testimonials  of  those  only  whose  opinions  have  some  weight. 
The  testimonials  of  the  countrv  paper  and  the  village  minister 
go  for  nothing,  and  make  a  circular  look  as  if  really  valuable 
opinions  could  not  be  had. 


Index 


PAGE 

Alwood,  Prof.  Wtn.  B.     -    -    39,  40 
Anarsia  lineatella      .....  39 

Anthonomus  musculus    -    -    -      41 
Aptela  oblinata     -    .....    44 

Aphis  forbesi     .......  40 

Ashes  .........    -     15 

Atmospheric  drainage      -    -    -  n 

Beaver,  John  F.      -    -    -    -    47,  49 
Beckwith,  Prof.    -  -   41 


Beds,  Treatment  of  old      -    - 
Bi-sexual  blossoms  ----- 
Burning  old  beds  ----- 

Choice  of  location    ..... 

Crown-borer  ------- 

Cultivation  -------- 

Culture,  Methods  of  -    -    -    - 

Cutting  runners  ------ 

Cuttings,  Plants  from    -    -    - 

Disease,  Fungous    ----- 

Davis.  Fy.  C.  -    -    -    -    -    14,  47, 

Drainage     -------- 

—Atmospheric  -    -    - 

Early  Spring  Treatment  -    - 
Eccopsis  permudana     - 
Emphytus  maculatus      - 
Enemies,  Fungous       - 
—Insect 


31 
16 


39 
25 
20 
26 
35 

45 
,  51 
-12 
u 

29 

-  44 
-  44 

-  45 
37 

Exhibition,  Growing  berries  for  47 

Fall  planting    -------32 

Fertilization  of  blossoms    -    -    16 
Fertilizers     --------14 

Frames    ---------35 

Fungous  disease  ------  45 

Goldsborough,  A.  T.  -    -    -    47,  50 


PAGE 
Gortyna  nitela  -------   41 

Growing  berries  for  pleasure  -  46 
—  exhibition  berries    -    47 
—plants  ......   54 

Growth,  Habits  of      .....  6 

Grub,  White    -------    37 

Habits  of  growth  ------   6 

Harpahts  calignosus     -    -    -     -    42 

Harpiphorus  maculatus      -    -       44 
Haywood,  Joseph  -    -    -  29,  47,  51 
Heeling  In    -    -    -    .....  19 

Hill  culture     .......     20 

Increasing  new  varieties  -    -       52 
Influence  of  trees    .....    12 

Insect  enemies      ......  37 

Introducing  new  varieties  -    -    58 

Jerolaman,  Henry    -    -    -     47,  48 
Knox,  Rev.  J.      ---- 


Lachnosterna  fusca    - 
payers,  Transplanted 
Leaf  blight    - 
Leaf-roller 
Leaf-spot  -    - 
liquid  manure 
Location,  Choice  of 
Bugger,  Dr. 
Lygtis  pratensis 


-  37 
-  35 
45 
43 
45 
52 
10 
41 
42 


Manure,  Liquid  .....    52,  53 

—Stable    -    -    -     13,  14,  29 
Marking  out  land  .....      22 

Matted  rows     .......   21 

May  beetle     .......      37 

Methods  of  culture  .....   20 


PAGE 

Mulching 30 

Murky  ground  beetle  -    -    -    -    42 
Murtfeldt,  Miss 37 

Neat  leaf-roller 44 

New  varieties,  Increasing      -     52 

— Introducing      -  58 

—Testing  -    -    -     55 

Nitrate  of  soda 15 

Old  beds,  Treatment  of      -    -     31 

Paria  sex-notata 45 

Pettit,  R.  H. 39,43,44 

Phoxopteris  comptana      -    -    -     43 

Phyllotreta  vttata 45 

Pistillate  blossoms      -    -    -    -     16 
Planting   ---------23 

—Fall 32 

— Time  for 15 

Plants  from  cuttings      -    -    -     35 
— Growing    ------   54 

Pleasure,  Strawb'ry  culture  for  46 

Pollenization 16 

Preparation  of  soil 13 

Potted  plants 34 

— Substitute  for    -     34 

Preliminaries 5 

Protection,  Winter      -    -    -    -    27 

Raising  plants  from  cuttings   -  35 
— seedlings  -----      57 

Root-borer 39 

Root-louse     --------40 

Root-worm      - 39 

Roots,  Shortening 24 

Runners,  Cutting 26 

Rust     ---- 45 

Sanderson,  Prof.  E).  D.    -    -    -    40 


Saw-fly 

Scelodonta  pubescens     - 
Seedlings,  Raising     - 
Selecting  varieties 

Sex 

Shading  - 

Sherbondy,  D.  C.      -    - 
Smeared  dagger     -    - 
Soda,  Nitrate  of    -    -    - 
Soil,  Nature  of  -    -    - 

— Preparation  of 
Sphaerella  fragariae 
Spot  disease    -    .-    -    - 
Spotted  paria  -    -    -    - 
Stalk-borer    -    -    -    - 
Starnes,  H.  N.     -    -    - 
Stedman,  Prof.  J.  M. 
Strawberry  Weevil 
Striped  flea  beetle     - 

Tarnished  plant  bug     . 

Terry,  T.  B 

Testing  new  varieties  . 
Time  to  plant     .     .    . 
Transplanted  layers    . 
Treatment  of  old  beds 
Trees,  Influence  of 
Tyloderma  fragarix  .     . 
Typophorus  canellus     . 


PAGE 

•  -  -   44 

-  -  -  40 

•  -  -   57 

-  -  -  18 

-  -  -  16 

-  -  -  36 

-  -   -  21 

-  -  -  44 

-  -  -  15 

-  -  -  -  9 
.  .  -  13 

-  -  -  45 

-  -  -  45 

-  -  -  45 

-  -   41 

-  39,  4i,  44 

-  -   42 

-  -  -  41 

-  -   45 

.  .  * .  42 


55 
15 
35 
30 


•  39 
.  40 


Varieties,  Increasing  new     .     .  52 
—Introducing  new    .     58 

—Selecting 18 

— Testing  new    ...     55 

Webster,  Prof.  F.  M 42 

Winter  protection      ....      27 


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